


Evermore

by Lunarelle



Series: Evermore [3]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Angst, Character Death, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Sex, F/F, Feels, Female Relationships, Femslash, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, Love, Original Character(s), Protectiveness, Relationship(s), Romance, Sex, Tragedy, True Love, World of Warcraft: Legion, World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, raw feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-04-23 21:37:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 50
Words: 166,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14341416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarelle/pseuds/Lunarelle
Summary: When Garrosh Hellscream escapes his trial, dimensions bleed into each other, causing Faith and Sylvanas to make difficult choices to preserve the life they've fought so hard to have together. The third installment of the series that began with Fall and Rebirth. Rated E. Romance/Adventure/Angst/Hurt & Comfort/etc. Femslash! Spans until the beginning of Legion.





	1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:  
** The world of Azeroth belongs entirely to Blizzard Entertainment. I am merely a visitor In the wonderful World of Warcraft, although I have created some of the characters here.

* * *

Dedicated to everyone who has stuck by Faith and Sylvanas, and who believe, as I do, that they're meant to be together. Two souls in one.

I hope you enjoy it!

Love,

Lunarelle

* * *

Peace. What was that? What qualified anybody to know whether or not it had been achieved? Was it when people were no longer gearing up for war and instead rebuilt a life together, such as they'd never been able to have before? Was it the freedom to be able to be with a loved one, without worry or fear of separation?

The woman walking down the dark passageway had no idea. She had lived through times of peace in the past, certainly, many years previously. But never had she been free to share her life with the one she loved without boundaries.

There had always been boundaries. A conflict that demanded their attention. A leader requesting their presence elsewhere, away from each other. Always something to keep them from truly being together.

Not anymore. Never again.

As she passed below one of the torches that lit the passage, her features came into sharp contrast.

Pale gray skin that was kept unblemished and smooth by a spell. Almond-shaped red eyes that glowed in a terrifying way. Brittle white-blonde hair, kept tucked beneath a hood of frayed black leather. Lips that were a darker shade of gray, nearly black, and glossy because of another piece of magic.

Sylvanas Windrunner, Banshee Queen of the Forsaken. That was her name. Her title. Someone who struck fear in the hearts of enemies foolish enough to challenge her.

Someone who was deeply – desperately – in love with another. With Faith.

She went to her now, waking quickly, wanting to get to her,  _needing_  to be with her. Her body almost quivered at the thought of being in her arms.

Kissing her.

Nearly running down the passage now, she finally reached their chambers. She could feel the presence of her beloved on the other side. She opened her mouth, meaning to take a deep breath to calm herself down, but of course, that was pointless, because she couldn't breathe. Every once in a while, however, she found herself trying to revert to old habits she'd had when she'd been alive.

She opened the door.

Faith looked up as Sylvanas entered the room she was in. She smiled, putting her book down and getting to her feet.

She looked surreal. People had called her beautiful in life, although most elves had merited the adjective. But after she'd been raised from the dead, her appearance had changed. Oh, she had retained her features, but they had taken on a deathly shade.

Her skin was white. Not the mottled white of abominations, but pure white, as though it had been touched by snow. Her hair was exactly the same hue, which would have been striking enough on its own. But her eyes, her eyes were like burning coals in her face, glowing a smoldering orange that was the same venomous shade as her lips.

"Hi," she said, reaching for the queen.

Not saying a word, Sylvanas closed the door behind her and walked towards Faith, ignoring her hand.

"Are you okay?"

A single nod. She came closer, and Faith felt something within her, a need that she needed to fulfill. Immediately. Closing the space between them, she tilted her head up towards Sylvanas'. Their lips met.

It was as though the world had stopped turning, coalescing into that very moment. Sylvanas put her arms around Faith, pulling her as close as she could, but it wasn't enough. Her tongue slid into her mouth, and Faith's hands tightened their grip on her waist as she made a sound of longing.

They pulled away, briefly, looking at each other.

"This is a wonderful surprise," said Faith quietly, her finger tracing Sylvanas' lips softly. "I wasn't expecting you back until tonight."

"It  _is_  tonight," said Sylvanas, amused.

Tearing her gaze away from Sylvanas, Faith looked at the clock on the mantle, "Wow. I didn't even feel the day pass by. I've been doing research all day."

"You didn't miss me?"

"I always miss you." Faith kissed her gently, "How did it go?"

"As expected. There's nobody left in the tunnels beneath Orgrimmar, and, according to Ji, the devilsaur they got out is doing very well on its island."

Faith smiled, "That's good to hear." Her hands were slowly undoing the laces on Sylvanas' armor.

"What exactly are you doing?"

"Undressing you."

"Mmhmm. And why are you doing that?"

Faith froze, "You don't want to?"

"Be naked with you? I most certainly do, but you and I have a meeting to attend in the throne room in twenty minutes."

"I can be fast."

Sylvanas started to chuckle and put her hands over Faith's, "I want you. And knowing that you want me so badly is enough to drive me insane, you know that? Now, we have a meeting, but afterwards, you are mine, my love, and that's a promise." She kissed her, deeply.

Faith looked her up and down, in a way that made her feel completely exposed, "You're going to go to the meeting dressed like that?"

"You really want to see me naked don't you?" countered Sylvanas playfully.

"I really can't help that," Faith told her with a pout. She moved away, going to the closet and pulling out inky black corduroy robes with short sleeves. She started undressing herself, taking her time, being as Sylvanas was watching her, "You sure I can't tempt you?"

"Fiend," said the queen simply, sitting on the bed and taking off her boots. Faith stopped what she was doing immediately, her eyes wide as they followed her every movement. "Oh no you don't. You keep getting dressed, or we'll never make it to the meeting."

Faith grinned, putting on the dress, "Fasten it for me, please?"

"Come here." Standing, Sylvanas pulled Faith to her, her eyes widening slightly when she saw that the dress had a corset bodice. "When did you buy this?"

"Last week in Silvermoon."

"Good thing I wasn't with you. You wouldn't have made it out of the dressing room." She finished tying the corset's laces and turned Faith around, eyes raking over her body, "Light, these are sexy on you. Are you trying to kill me?"

"You like it?" wondered Faith, her face taking on a completely unconvincing innocent look.

"I think that the people at the meeting, whether living or dead, are going to have their eyes glued to your chest when you show up like that."

"You want me to change?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "I think that you should wear that dress for the rest of our lives." She leaned close and placed a slow kiss on Faith's neck, "But maybe put a cloak over it so that nobody gets… distracted."

"I'm dead. You're the only one who gets distracted by me anymore."

"I'd like to keep it that way," said Sylvanas, quickly changing into another pair of leggings and a tunic, "You need to stop buying me new clothes."

"No." Faith smiled at her, putting a black cloak over her shoulders, effectively covering up her dress, "Are you ready?"

She was. "Why do you look more like a queen than I do?"

"I don't. What gave you that idea?"

Sylvanas took her hand, "It's not an idea, it's a fact. Come on, or we'll be late." They walked leisurely down the corridor, stopping just once to kiss briefly. "Mmm, I can't remember the last time we did this."

"What? Kissed?"

"No. Been relaxed. Unworried about the state of the world. We haven't taken the time to just be together for a while. Usually, something always comes up to separate us."

Stopping again, Faith pressed another kiss to Sylvanas' lips, "The best part of being away is coming home to you. Nothing could be better for me."

"Except never leaving."

"Never leaving would be… can that happen? Would I be able to stay with you all the time? Would you even like that?"

"Would I like… how well do you know me?"

Faith laughed, "I know you well enough to know that I would probably drive you crazy after a while."

Shaking her head, Sylvanas led her the rest of the way to the throne room, where Rotvine was already waiting around a round table that had been placed along the wall. Garia and Vilak were standing with him, talking quietly.

Rotvine saw them and smiled to the best of his abilities, bowing to them, "My ladies," he said.

"Hi, Carrick," said Faith, smiling back at him.

"Hello," he replied. "I'm pleased to report that we have stationed all of the new guards in Undercity."

"The abominations?" asked Sylvanas.

He nodded. "We've changed their personalities a little so that they can be easier to talk to. They're friendlier too."

"Friendlier? I don't need them to be friendly."

"They're friendly towards us, until they see someone breaking a law. Then they turn into real abominations, and nobody wants that."

Sylvanas turned to Faith, "Was that your idea?"

"It was. Since you insist on having them guard Undercity now, I thought it best to make them easier for everyone to live with."

Rolling her eyes, Sylvanas sat in one of the chairs around the table, "Only you. They're called abominations for a reason." She nodded towards the entrance to the throne room, "Are the others on their way?"

"Yes, my Lady, they'll be right… oh, there they are."

Sylvanas waited until Eliza, Ambassador Sunsorrow and other dignitaries of Undercity were gathered around them, some of them sitting while others stayed on their feet. "I've called you all here regarding Garrosh's trial in Pandaria. As you know, it will be happening next week, and Faith will be called in as a witness."

Everyone nodded.

"I know that most of you have seen the uses of Garrosh's power over the past few months. But if you have any specific instances in mind that you'd like to talk about, let me know so that I can tell the August Celestials."

"You don't think they'll acquit him, do you?" asked Eliza.

"Not a chance," said Faith. "Even if he weren't convicted for what he did to me and Vol'jin, what happened in Theramore would be enough to send him to prison for the rest of his life, however long that may be."

"They won't sentence him to death?"

"That's unlikely. It's the August Celestials, they believe in giving people second chances."

"Let's hope we can convince them that he needs to be killed," said Sylvanas through gritted teeth. "Have all of our forces returned from Pandaria?"

"Most of them, yes," said Rotvine. "A few Forsaken elected to remain there because they…" his voice trailed off.

"Because they what?" asked Sylvanas, raising her eyebrows.

"They share Faith's opinion about the land."

Faith laughed, "They think it's pretty, and they want to see more of it?"

"That's the gist of it, yeah," he said.

Sylvanas placed her head in her hands and groaned, "Did I raise Forsaken or bunnies? What's with everyone thinking that everything is  _pretty_  these days?"

"We have you as our queen," Faith told her. "And there's nobody more beautiful in our eyes than you, but sometimes, we want to see something other than Undercity. Just sometimes."

"You just told me you wanted to stay with me."

"Not me! I've seen Pandaria and I'm happy to be home." Winking at Rotvine, she placed a loud kiss on Sylvanas' cheek. "It was a pretty place, though. You know, until we came and destroyed most of it."

Sylvanas rolled her eyes, "By all means, let me know if you want me to adopt the pandaren architectural style. Where would you like me to put the pagoda?"

"Brill," said Faith promptly.

"I guess we can get rid of that statue. It serves no purpose."

"Don't you dare take the statue away!" she screeched while everyone around the table started to laugh.

Sylvanas was smiling, "All right, we're done here. Think about the trial, and let me know if there's anything you want to bring up by tomorrow." She stood up, wrapped an arm around Faith and brought her back to their chambers, not bothering to stop anywhere along the way.

"Oh, you have that look on your face," remarked Faith as soon as they were alone.

"What look?"

"The one that says that you're going to have your way with me and not let me out of here for hours," Faith told her, slowly backing away from her. "Is that what you want?"

Sylvanas caught her, "Who's going to stop me?"

"No one," whispered Faith as their lips met.

Their lovemaking was slow, sensual. Faith, quite incapable of making a sound when Sylvanas found the entrance to her body, only managed to lie there, her eyes closed. One of her hands gripped the bedcovers while the other one held on to Sylvanas' shoulder, attempting to wrest some sort of control over herself.

It was futile, Sylvanas was too good at what she was doing. Faith's body held no secrets for her, and she soon had her reduced to a quivering puddle of ecstasy, crying out her name over and over again.

"You need more?" she asked, licking Faith's taste from her lips.

"More? Let me catch my breath, love…" whispered Faith, still seeing stars behind her closed eyelids.

"You're dead, sweetheart. You don't breathe."

"Figure of speech. Oh, Sylvanas, that was so good…"

"Yeah?" the queen lay her body over Faith's, kissing the hollow of her neck.

"Mmm, yeah." Her eyes opened, and her hand slid down Sylvanas' body, "Do you want –."

"No, no, this was about you, not about me." She moved her lips to catch Faith's in a slow kiss. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"I always enjoy you."

That wasn't true, but Sylvanas let it slide, tracing patterns over Faith's skin with her forefinger. "I always wanted us to be together like this."

"What do you mean?"

"Just lounging about in bed. I used to imagine what it would be like to spend a whole morning in bed with you. Not necessarily making love, but eating breakfast in bed, reading the news, and just talking."

Faith smiled, looking at Sylvanas' hand, "Sounds good to me. We could probably do that, you know."

"If I didn't have an entire city to run, yeah, probably. But hardly any time goes by without someone needing something from me."

"I think it's mostly that people want to be near you."

Sylvanas nodded, "Yes. You and I have been alone now for nearly an hour, and I expect someone to come knocking at any time."

Faith started to answer, but was interrupted by the very thing Sylvanas had spoken of. The two of them looked at each other once before bursting into laughter. On the other side of the door, the guard who had knocked looked at Rotvine, surprised as the sound echoed down the corridor.

* * *

The week went by, and as the trial neared, Sylvanas began to tense again. She spent a lot of time in the Ruins of Lordaeron by the grave she'd had erected for Faith when she'd been missing and had been presumed dead.

Her mind went back to the horrible day of Faith's assassination, and she remembered the way her lover had bled in her arms, the life slowly draining out of her.

Her sessions at the grave were private ones. She made it a point to light the candles around the headstone every time she went there, refusing to have a spell put on them so that they'd burn without help.

_Oh, my Faith_ , she thought.  _I wasn't able to protect you from him. It was my job to keep you safe, and I failed you._

"Sylvanas?"

Startled, Sylvanas looked up to find Faith walking towards her. "Faith…"

"What are you doing here, my love? What's wrong?" She knelt next to Sylvanas, brushing a dusty tear away from her face. "You're crying."

"Baby… could I just… can you give me a moment alone, please?"

Faith looked at her, then at the white grave, "Of course." She kissed her, "I'll be in the library when you're ready."

"Thanks," murmured Sylvanas. She watched her go, but realized suddenly that she didn't want to be alone. "Faith!"

Faith turned around, immediately walking back to her, "What is it?"

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for everything…" Overwhelming despair washed over her as she thought of everything Faith had endured because of her.

It was beginning to storm, the rain extinguishing the candles Sylvanas had lit. Faith cupped her face in her hands, "You don't have to apologize to me about anything, Sylvanas."

"I never wanted to leave you. Ever. I wanted us to be married, but first I was scared, and then I went ahead and  _died_  and left you with this mess, and you were alone, and you found me and –."

Faith kissed her, wrapping her arms around her so tightly she would have bruised her had she been alive. "I love you. I love you so much it hurts sometimes."

"I should have protected you…"

"All my life you've tried to protect me."

"I should have gone to Theramore with you… you wouldn't have been killed then."

"No, maybe we would have both been killed then. Honey, everything's okay."

Sylvanas shook her head, "It's not. You're dead. You were never meant to be dead, you should be alive, in the sun."

"Even when I was alive, Sylvanas, there was only one place I wanted to be, and that was with you. Come out of the rain with me. Please, my love."

They found themselves under one of the archways in the ruins, with Faith sitting against one of the columns, and Sylvanas resting between her legs, her eyes closed. She leaned back against Faith, who was slowly rubbing her arms and kissing her cheek occasionally. They stayed like that for quite some time, listening to the rain fall.

"Would you like to do something before the trial?" Faith asked her softly.

"The trial starts in the morning," said Sylvanas. "I'm not sure we'll have time to do anything. Did you have something particular in mind?"

"I just want to get away with you for a while, somewhere that won't remind us of… all this."

"There isn't a place on Azeroth that doesn't remind me of what happened, baby." Sylvanas opened her eyes, gazing up at the dark sky.

"We could go back to Grizzly Hills."

A smile, "I suppose we could. Although now that you no longer need to eat or sleep, we'd probably just make love."

"And that would be bad why?"

Sylvanas chuckled, "I'll think about it." She made a soft sound when Faith kissed a spot just behind her ear before her expression grew serious again, "Are you ready for the trial to start?"

"I have to be."

"I know you have to be, but are you ready? You'll have to live through what happened to you again."

"That'll be harder on you than on me," said Faith, wrapping her arms around Sylvanas.

"It'll be hard on both of us, but you're going to hate it. I don't know if I would have managed a trial against Arthas, to be honest. I live with what he did to me every day, but having to go through every detail again in front of someone? No, I don't think I could have done that." Sylvanas turned her head to look at Faith, "If you don't want to be there for the whole trial, you don't have to be."

"You'll be with me. That alone will make it more bearable."

Pressing her forehead against Faith's, Sylvanas closed her eyes again "I'll do everything in my power to make sure you're okay while all this is going on. I promise."

"I believe you." Faith kissed her, and a short while later, they went back inside the city, hand-in-hand. Neither was fully ready for what was about to happen, and part of them held a secret fear, a fear that something would go wrong once again.


	2. Chapter 2

Garrosh's trial.

Faith dressed very carefully that morning, putting on a black dragon hide outfit that fit her like a glove and made her look strong. The leggings were like a second skin, showing off the muscles in her legs, which were further accented by her knee-high boots. The tunic, which went down to just above her knee, was made of the same scaled leather, and had a high neckline that only just skimmed her jaw. Its particularity was that the topmost layer of it was white, gradually fading to the deepest black, so that it was hard to tell where her skin ended and the tunic began.

When she walked into the throne room, everyone stared at her. Sylvanas, who had been leaving instructions with Rotvine and Nathanos, froze when she saw her.

"Okay, now you're just making me look bad," she said.

"You don't like it?" asked Faith, looking down at herself.

Sylvanas beckoned her closer, "You, my darling, are sending a very clear message."

"Oh yeah," said Rotvine. "I look at you and I don't know whether to run for cover or bow to you."

Faith looked around, "It's too much."

"No," said Sylvanas. "You're attending the trial of the person who had you assassinated. Presenting a strong image is smart, and nobody who knows you can say that you've been cowering since you were raised."

Cowering. No, she definitely hadn't cowered when she'd been raised, although she had felt despair so strong it had nearly crippled her. But she didn't want to think about that.

Sylvanas was very close to her, "You'll have to explain to me when you had time to go do all that shopping, sweetheart. And why you didn't invite me to come with you."

"Like you said the other day, I wouldn't have made it out of the dressing room if you'd been with me," Faith whispered to her. "I took an hour, teleported to Silvermoon and got a few outfits. Don't worry, I used my own funds."

"You can use all the funds you want if you're going to buy clothes that fit you like that." Sylvanas touched her, unaware that the people in the throne room had made themselves scarce. "Was this made specifically for you?"

"There's a matching cloak, too," she said softly. "Sylvanas, you're prowling."

It was true. Had anybody looked at Sylvanas at that moment, they wouldn't have failed to notice that she looked like a saber cat prowling the woods while stalking its prey.

"Shhh. Let me look at you. I want to memorize you."

Faith held still, waiting.

"Can you put on the cloak?"

"It's in our room, and I think that if you come back there with me, we'll never get out."

"I won't touch you. Come on."

A little amused by the urgency in Sylvanas' voice, Faith followed her until they reached their chambers, where she had left the cloak and shoulder pads.

"Oh," said Sylvanas. "Everything matches, look at that." She picked up the shoulder armor, fitting it to Faith's shoulders. It matched the tunic perfectly, starting out as white and steadily darkening.

"You said you weren't going to touch me!" laughed Faith as Sylvanas kissed her.

"I lied." She snuck in another kiss, "How am I supposed to top that?"

"With this," said Faith, taking an outfit from the closet.

Sylvanas stared. "Faith… what did you do?"

"You'd be surprised what the Silvermoon Armored Outfitters can do in a short amount of time with an idea and a sack of gold."

"No, I know what they can do, but… how… when…" Sylvanas closed her mouth.

The outfit Faith was holding up had been crafted expressly for looks and not for battle, although Sylvanas could feel magic coming from the fabric. It consisted of everything she could have wanted: shoulder pads, a cloak, tunic, leggings, gloves and boots.

But the way everything had been made was superb. Dragonhawk leather that had been treated to be as supple as possible, colored black and deep violet. Delicate chain links that covered the tunic in swirling patterns and fell from the hem, dangling just above her hips.

"Are those crystals in the shoulder armor?" she asked, seeing faintly glowing purple stones embedded in the leather and covered by more black chain links.

Faith nodded, "Amethyst crystals, imbued with protective spells. I know you won't wear this in battle, but you never know."

Stunned speechless, Sylvanas just looked at the outfit, then back at Faith. Since she had died, she hadn't really concerned herself with her appearance, although Faith and several others had always insisted that she shouldn't look like a shambling corpse. Seeing what Faith had gotten for her, Sylvanas felt a part of her, buried since she had died, get a little excited. She almost felt like she had when she'd been alive, eager to show off new clothes.

"It's not vanity," Faith told her, correctly interpreting her silence. "You said it yourself: presenting a strong image is smart." She took a step closer, "You will put it on, right? Between you and me, I really want to see what you look like in it. Think of it as a birthday present."

"Birthday?"

"Okay, so I'm a few months late."

"We already celebrated it." Sylvanas reached out a finger to touch the leather, "Honestly, you didn't have to do this."

"Are you… wait, are you overwhelmed by this?"

"That's one way to put it. I don't even know how to…" her voice trailed off.

Faith put a finger under Sylvanas' chin, "Hey. You're acting like me right now. It's weird."

"Yeah, well, I'm beginning to understand what it's been like for you all these years." She leaned in, kissing her, "Thank you. I suppose I should be getting ready then. Do you want to help me?"

"Sure. Let me just alert Carrick to the fact that we'll be about three hours late."

Sylvanas chuckled, "It doesn't start for a couple of hours." She undressed quickly, and, with Faith's help, put on her new armor, which, she had to admit, looked amazing on her.

"Even Greymane will be stunned," Faith told her, kissing the tip of her nose. "You look beautiful, my queen."

"You do realize that you're the only person who thinks this, right?"

"No I'm not. Nathanos thinks it, so does Carrick, so do every Forsaken on the planet. Others think it too. I'm fairly certain that if factions weren't keeping us against each other, you would have people from every race bending the knee to you, just because of your beauty."

"You may be a little biased."

"Okay, so I'm biased. But I also happen to be right. Ask around."

"Sure, I'll get right on that. Make sure to record my conversation with Greymane for posterity. I'd like you to be present when he tears my head off my shoulders."

Faith frowned, "I'd rather not think about something like that, thanks." She kissed Sylvanas' cheek and put an arm around her, "Shall we go? I can show you the Temple of the White Tiger while we wait for the trial to start."

"You really liked Pandaria, didn't you? You keep wanting me to visit it."

"I thought it was a beautiful place. It still is. And yes, I want to visit it with you."

"All right. Once the trial ends, no matter what the decision is, I'll come with you and we can vacation there, so to speak."

"You will? We can?"

"I can hardly refuse you, especially when I can see how happy it would make you. So yes."

The look in Faith's eyes spoke volumes about the way she felt. Wordlessly, she hugged her close, loving her more.

* * *

The Temple of the White Tiger was one of those imposing structures that the pandaren prided themselves on. Built in the snowy peaks of Kun-Lai Summit, it was a beacon of benevolence, watching over the entire mountain landscape, its monks ready to come to the aid of anybody who requested it.

"It's magnificent," said Sylvanas as they walked over the bridges connecting parts of the temple to one another. "The people who built this really knew what they were doing."

Faith nodded, keeping her thoughts to herself. It was magical to walk through the temple with Sylvanas, the feeling not unlike the one she'd experienced while roaming Quel'Thalas with her beloved. She moved her hand until her fingers gently brushed against the queen's. A moment later, she felt her take her hand, and they stopped under a blossoming cherry tree. They kissed.

"Well, isn't this cliché?" asked Sylvanas quietly when she pulled away.

Faith smiled, "I don't mind being a cliché with you. Besides, you look good with cherry blossoms in your hair." Reaching up, she plucked one of the blooms that had fallen from the branches above them and had gotten caught in Sylvanas' brittle locks.

"I thought I always looked good."

"You do. You always look amazing." She ran a finger down Sylvanas' cheek, and Sylvanas stood there, simply watching her. It occurred to her suddenly that if she were so inclined, she could marry Faith in this very spot. It would be perfect, with cherry trees all around them. Faith in a white gossamer gown and a sparkling veil, walking towards her…

She blinked and stepped away from Faith, releasing her as overwhelming guilt caused her body to seize up. "No," she said. "We can't."

"Sylvanas? What's wrong?" Immediately concerned, Faith tried to come closer to her, but Sylvanas backed away until she hit the railing that separated her from the edge.

"Nothing. I just…" running a hand over her eyes, Sylvanas tried to regain control of herself.

_You raised her from the dead. You denied her the peace that you've been craving ever since you died. You're no better than Arthas._

"What just went through your mind?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "Nothing. I'm fine. Come here, sweetheart."

Faith didn't move. "You're sure?"

"Come here," she repeated. She closed her eyes, trying to shut the voices out of her head, and after a second, felt Faith's hand on her face. Allowing herself to relax a little, she leaned forward until her forehead was pressed against Faith's.

Faith put her arms around her, rubbing her back gently before pulling her away from the edge, "What happened, honey? Why did you tense so much?"

"Please don't ask me about that. I don't know why it happens."

"But it's not the first time. It happened to you last week. We were only kissing and you just tensed and pulled away from me."

"I remember." Sylvanas put an arm around Faith, memories vying for her attention.

_Faith was dead._

Despair.

_She was gone. Forever. She would never again laugh in the sun, her cheeks warming in delight… she would forever be cold._

"Baby?"

Sylvanas jerked at the sound of Faith's voice, nearly falling. For a second, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to pull herself back to the present and that Faith would find out…

"I'm here."

"Sylvanas, listen to – don't try to pull away from me, it hurts me when you do that." She grabbed Sylvanas' hand and pulled her back to her. "You're going through something, and you're trying to shut me out. I don't know why you're doing that, but I'm telling you now that you won't get rid of me that easily."

"Faith, there's nothing –."

"Yes there is. I know you, Sylvanas, better than I know myself. Please don't push me away."

Looking at her, Sylvanas shook her head, "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to trust me with whatever's going on. I want you to remember that I'm here for you and that I can help you."

"Look, I just want to get through this trial, okay? I'll just be happy when we get home."

Faith took a step towards her, bringing their bodies close, "So will I. We'll be together, and we'll be okay." She kissed her, "Just remember that whatever you're going through, I've been through it too."

"I know you have, love," Sylvanas tried to smile. "I'll be all right, you don't need to worry about me."

Another kiss, "It's my job to worry about you."

Sylvanas' smile was a little more genuine this time, "Are you trying to make me fall in love with you again?"

"Yes. Is it working?"

"Stop that. It was hard enough the first couple of times." She put an arm around her lover and, together, they stepped away from the tree, noticing that someone was watching them.

His long auburn hair spilled over his shoulders, framing a handsome face that was lightly marred by scars. A small goatee was trimmed to a point on is chin, making him look distinguished. He wore plain magi robes, over which he had worn the tabard of his order.

Faith had only seen him a few times around Dalaran when she'd been there, having mostly been with Rhonin and Krasus. But it was hard to mistake him for anybody else.

"Aethas Sunreaver," said Sylvanas. "I didn't think we were going to find you here."

"Since we've officially been expelled from Dalaran, I don't really have anywhere else to be, honestly."

"Aren't you in Silvermoon, Master Sunreaver?" asked Faith.

Aethas nodded, and they began to walk together towards the larger part of the temple where the trial would be held. "We never got to work together, Commander, but Krasus and Rhonin spoke very highly of you."

Faith made a small sound in the back of her throat, "I miss them."

"As do I." He looked sideways at her, "I hope that you will come to visit me in Silvermoon. I would love for us to work together."

"I daresay the two of you would make a good team," said Sylvanas, nodding her head to a few of the Forsaken guards who were already at the temple, conversing with curious pandaren.

"Did you bring your entire guard here, Sylvanas?" he wondered. "There are a lot of your people here."

"Garrosh killed Faith. The Forsaken have a vested interest in seeing justice served."

"I thought he'd given the order, not that he had actually killed her."

Sylvanas made to stop walking, but Faith made sure she kept moving, squeezing her waist. The feel of her was enough to make her bite back the angry retort that had risen to her lips. "And all of us think that he deserves to die for what he did. Hopefully the Celestial court will see that he shouldn't be kept alive." She dropped her arm from Faith's shoulders as they entered the temple, hating the loss of contact as soon as it happened.

Beside her, Faith moved minimally away to preserve decorum, but nobody who saw them was fooled. Everything indicated that she and Sylvanas wanted to crawl into each other's skins and remain there for the duration of the trial.

"We won't be starting for another hour or so," a night elf was saying. "High Priestess Tyrande wants to make sure that we have all the facts before we begin." His gaze cut towards Faith, "But I see that the Forsaken have arrived. They always think themselves to be the most damaged ones out of all of us, as though we should revere them for what they've been through."

Faith bristled, but Sylvanas angled her body so that the night elf was hidden from her view, "Don't rise. This trial will be difficult enough without us getting into arguments with the Alliance." She gently put a hand on Faith's arm, steering her towards Baine, who was moodily reviewing notes. He looked up as they approached.

"Commander," he said. "Sylvanas. You're here early."

"Faith wanted to walk around the temple a little with me. How's the defense coming along?"

"Just fine," lied Baine. "Really. The fact that I have to be the one to defend the person who murdered my father feels like an insult to my ancestors." He sighed, "Please don't think that I want to be doing this."

"You were appointed," said Faith quietly. "Accepting the appointment reveals you to be a far better person than I'll ever be."

Baine shook his head, "Not really. Look, Faith, this won't be easy for you. I'll have to ask you some questions you won't like."

"What kind of questions?" asked Sylvanas sharply, unconsciously stepping closer to Faith, wanting to shield her from any kind of pain that might be coming.

"It wouldn't be fair to Garrosh if I told you –."

"Fuck being fair to Garrosh." Sylvanas' voice held venom. "He had her assassinated."

"Me and countless others, Sylvanas."

"I don't  _care_  about the others."

Faith put both her hands on Sylvanas' face, forcing her to look directly at her. "I know that, sweetheart. But just like I had to remember that I wasn't the only one who suffered when the Scourge invaded home, you have to remember that Garrosh destroyed many lives. You and I are not the only ones in pain because of what he did."

Sylvanas blinked, "Let me go, Faith."

"I love you," whispered Faith privately before releasing her.

Other people were arriving. Most of them were dressed for power, but nobody looked as striking as Faith and Sylvanas, especially when one looked at them together. Lor'themar saw them and walked directly to them, his visible eye wide.

"I'd really love to know where you got your outfits, because you're both looking amazing," he said, kissing Faith's cheek and hugging Sylvanas spontaneously, something he had never done even when she'd been alive. "How are you?"

"Just fine," Sylvanas told him, blinking once. "Since when do you hug me?"

"I always wanted to hug you when you were general."

Sylvanas stared at him, "You tell me this  _now_?"

"When else should I have told you?"

"When I was alive. Might have been nice to hear."

"Weren't you in love with Faith when you were alive?"

"Of course I was in love with Faith, I've always been in love with Faith."

"Liar," said Faith with a grin.

Sylvanas rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean." She looked over at Baine, "Good luck. You're going to need it."

Baine nodded grimly, rolling up his notes again, "Your family's here, Faith."

Turning her head towards the entrance to the temple, Faith saw that he was right. Walking over were Atalo and Taisha, followed by Hamu and Ishaka, who was carrying Sylvera. She smiled and went to them, "I didn't know you would be coming!" she exclaimed.

Atalo wrapped her in a strong hug, "Of course we are here, my sun child."

"We wanted to support you, and to support Baine, considering who he's defending." Taisha hugged her tightly as well, nuzzling her cheek. "You look well."

"That's because of Sylvanas. She loves me and it makes me happy."

Sylvanas, attempting to not roll her eyes, shook Taisha and Atalo's hands as Faith hugged her brother and sister-in-law. "We've been together a lot. It helps."

Taisha nodded, "She's always been happiest when she was with you. I think that was true even before all this."

"Oh it was. Her face used to light up every time I walked into a room. It was a like watching a sunrise. Even now, when she sees me, she gets this look."

"The one that says that she's the happiest woman in the world?"

"That's the one." Sylvanas smiled, watching as Faith took Sylvera from Ishaka. Surprisingly, the little white calf didn't scream when she was touched by Faith's undead hands. Instead, she looked at her with huge light brown eyes. "She'll be a heartbreaker, won't she?"

"She's certainly got her parents wrapped around her little finger," said Atalo, watching her with pride. "They just fell in love with her."

"Oh, I think she's about to steal Faith's heart as well, look."

Faith was talking quietly to her niece, who seemed to be listening attentively to her. As they watched, the baby held up a hand and Faith kissed it gently before handing her back to her mother. She came to stand as close to Sylvanas as she could without actually touching her, a smile on her face. "She's growing well."

"She eats more than Hamu did at her age," said Atalo fondly.

"That'll probably get worse," Sylvanas told him. "Lirath ate more as a child than my sisters and I combined, according to our parents."

Ishaka smiled at them, "Hamu already wants another one," she said. "Right now, I mean."

"That would be one heck of a way to start the trial," said Sylvanas while Faith laughed.

"Hey, I want at least seven kids," said Hamu.

"Seven?!" asked Faith, her eyes widening. "You're insane, my brother."

"No tauren has ever had more than five children," said Atalo. "Give your mate some time to adjust to one child before you start thinking seriously about a second one."

A Forsaken soldier walked over to them, saluting Faith and Sylvanas, "I'm sorry to bother you, Your Majesty, Commander, but I was ordered to give you this." He handed Sylvanas a small roll of parchment before taking his leave.

Sylvanas unrolled the parchment and read it. A frown creased her features as she handed the note to Faith.

"What is it?" asked Atalo.

"Nothing. I'm being told to sit with the other leaders during the trial, while Faith has to sit with the witnesses who will be testifying." She caught a look on Faith's features, one that was so fleeting that the undiscerning eye would have missed it. But she knew that Faith was feeling distressed at the idea of the two of them sitting apart.

_You deserve it. You shouldn't be near her. She's too good for you, and you know it._

Sylvanas shook her head briefly as if to clear it. She gently put a hand on Faith's back and addressed her family, "Will you excuse us for a few minutes?"

They nodded, and a few moments later, she and Faith found themselves behind the temple, quite alone except for a majestic cloud serpent flying ten feet above them.

"It'll only be for a few hours a day," said Faith quietly, almost speaking to herself.

"I know."

Faith looked up at her, her orange eyes momentarily losing their glow, "I wanted to be there for you, holding your hand throughout the whole proceedings."

"Me too, sweetheart. But like you said, it's only for a few hours." It was ridiculous for them to feel so wretched about not being able to touch each other. But Sylvanas felt like she was losing her anchor.

A gong sounded, indicating the people should start taking their seats, and Faith stepped into Sylvanas' arms, kissing her as though their lives depended on it.

The trial was about to begin.


	3. Chapter 3

People were filing into the raised stands, taking their seats for the trial. There were enough chairs to accommodate at least two hundred spectators, and Faith was positive that every spot would be taken.

The first two rows were reserved for witnesses who would be testifying against Garrosh. Members of the Horde and the Alliance would be separated to avoid any scuffles, and Faith could feel something weighing down against her, a dampening shield that would prevent anybody from using any kind of magic. To be cut off from magic was something Faith had expected, but she hated it.

She was standing to the side, watching as people came in, while keeping an eye on Sylvanas, who was with the other leaders of the Horde. Whatever they were discussing was making her lover agitated, and it made her feel ill at ease. Everything in her told her to go over there and smooth over whatever was causing Sylvanas to look like that, but she knew better.

_She can take care of herself. Better than you can, actually._

Shaking her head, she looked towards the entrance to the temple, where Alliance leaders had converged. Greymane was the most prominent of them all in his wolf form, but he certainly wasn't the most vocal. Even from where she was, Faith could hear Moira Bronzebeard complaining about her treatment.

"What's she complaining about?" Hamu asked her quietly, having come up behind her.

Faith smirked, "Apparently she wasn't happy with the carriage she had to ride in. It wasn't grand enough, I don't know."

"Grand enough? For what?"

"For a royal."

Hamu blinked at her, "Nobody else seemed to mind."

"Therein lies the problem. She's not 'nobody'. Didn't I tell you the way she behaved when I was in Ironforge?"

He shook his head, and listened while Faith gave him a quick rundown of what had happened there. More than once, her brother burst into laughter, which caused several people to look over to them quizzically.

"And I thought blood elves were picky."

"Hey!" exclaimed Faith. "We're not picky! We're just, well,  _particular_  is all."

"We? Aren't you a Forsaken now?"

"Semantics. They're still my people."

"You have a lot of people, Faith. The blood elves, the Forsaken, the tauren…" Hamu put an arm over her shoulders, "Father calls you a child of many races."

Faith smiled, "I was born a Quel'dorei. After the Scourge hit, I became a blood elf, and the tauren welcomed me into their midst, as did the Forsaken, once I found Sylvanas again. I feel loyalty to everyone there."

"Do you think that Baine will question that in order to make his case?"

"I don't know. I just hope that my testimony won't be necessary during the trial. It looks like there will be enough witnesses there without me. But if it is, I was told that I'll be called sometime tomorrow." She watched as one of the pandaren guards went to the small gong sitting on the judge's table, ringing it once.

Hamu squeezed Faith close for a moment, then moved away from her as everyone who had been standing around finally made their way to their seats.

* * *

Sylvanas watched as Faith went to sit in the first row of the witness stands, directly behind the table where she knew Garrosh would be sitting.

Directly in her line of sight.

She found her gaze constantly drawn to her. Faith sat utterly still, focusing on what was about to happen. To everyone, she appeared completely calm, almost detached.

_Are you all right, my love?_

Faith's gaze cut to her once in acknowledgement. She gave the briefest of nods.  _I'm fine, Sylvanas. I miss you._

Sylvanas nearly smiled.

One of the doors of the temple opened, and four people came in. Sylvanas had never met them before, but she knew exactly who they were, even though they had chosen to appear differently than they normally did.

Chi-Ji, the Red Crane, had chosen to look like a Sin'dorei. His long red hair and features were so familiar that, for a moment, Sylvanas thought she was seeing things, because he looked like Estelien Everstone, Faith's brother, but with folded golden wings protruding from his back. One look at Faith confirmed that she wasn't mistaken. Her lover's face, so composed a mere second previously, had turned an ashy color.

_It's probably a coincidence, baby. Get a grip on yourself, please._

She saw Faith run a shaking hand over her eyes before she turned back to the August Celestials.

Xuen was the second one to enter, and he was looking like a human, although it wasn't any kind of human that had ever walked Azeroth. His body was pale blue, and both his skin and hair had been streaked with black and white stripes. It was striking to behold.

"There's no mistaking them for anybody else," said Lor'themar to her as Niuzao walked in, appearing as a tauren with a white head and blue eyes.

Sylvanas said nothing, merely staring as the final Celestial, Yu'lon, appeared as a pandaren cub, her magenta eyes distinguishing her from all the others who were gathered with them.

The four of them would be the official jury, as agreed to by the Horde and the Alliance, and Sylvanas was almost positive that Baine's defense would cause them to keep Garrosh alive. She put a hand on Baine's shoulder as he walked past her, "Please don't defend him so well that the verdict will be to give him flowers."

Baine snorted, disengaging himself gently. "Do not make the mistake of thinking that you're the only one who wants to see justice done here, Sylvanas," he told her. He walked away from her, going to sit down as, on the other side of the room, Tyrande Whisperwind did the same.

They weren't alone. Tyrande was accompanied by someone Sylvanas recognized instantly. A creature who looked like a gnome, but who was wearing the tabard of the bronze dragonflight. This was Chronormu, better known as Chromie whom she knew Faith respected immensely. Likewise, Baine was accompanied by a dragon who looked like a handsome high elf, and who appeared to be in good spirits. Too good, in her estimation.

"What are bronze drakes doing here?" asked Lor'themar.

"I suppose we'll find out," said Sylvanas.

Everyone quieted as someone else walked in. Taran Zhu, wearing formal pandaren robes, looked at the people assembled, making his way to the judge's seat, which faced the two areas reserved for Baine and Tyrande, who had been named as Defender and Accuser respectively. He sat down and began to speak.

"As agreed by the leaders of the Horde and the Alliance, I will be Fa'shua during this trial, the judge. As such, I welcome you all to the Temple of the White Tiger, and thank Xuen for allowing us to use his sanctuary for these proceedings."

He paused, his eyes traveling around the room.

"This is the first time in the history of Azeroth that all of the leaders have assembled in one area. I therefore hope that you all can control yourselves and keep the peace as the trial goes on. Make no mistake, any outbursts, and you will be forcibly removed from the temple, and confined for the duration of the trial."

People shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Sylvanas saw Faith licking her lips. She was seated next to an orc who bore the traces of brutality inflicted on him by Garrosh's forces. As she watched, her lover looked up, catching her eye.

"We will be hearing from witnesses," continued Taran Zhu, "but we have members here of the bronze dragonflight who have graciously agreed to help us  _see_  what went on, by using the Vision of Time." He gestured towards a corner of the room, where several pandaren monks were carrying a table on which sat a peculiar object.

It looked like an hourglass, but around both its bulbs were twined two exquisitely crafted bronze dragons. They looked completely real, and even seemed to breathe as though they were asleep. Magic radiated from the object, and Sylvanas suddenly felt queasy at the thought of what she might be forced to witness.

"See what went on," she repeated quietly. She looked at Faith, whose face was ashen again. "Why do we need people to testify if they can just use that thing to show us everything?"

"I suppose it's to make more of an impact," answered Lor'themar, glancing at her sideways.

Almost everyone in the room looked uneasy now. All of them had heard of what Garrosh had done, and many of them had witnessed some of the atrocities firsthand. But to see everything again… nobody had counted on that.

Taran Zhu got to his feet, "I now call for Garrosh Hellscream, former warchief of the Horde, to be brought to us."

* * *

There was a collective intake of breath as Garrosh walked into the room. Even without his customary armor, he was a monstrous orc, the tattoos on his body altered by his dealings with the sha. Evidently, he was being treated well by the pandaren, much better than he had treated his own prisoners.

As soon as he came in, several people began screaming at him. Insults in every language echoed across the room, so much so than Xuen had to get to his feet.

"I will have order in my temple!" He sounded perfectly calm, but the power behind his voice quieted most everyone down. The few who were unable to restrain themselves were taken away by the pandaren monks who had immediately sprung to action.

"As I said," Taran Zhu told them, "any outburst will see you removed from the proceedings. So if you would like to be here,  _please_  control yourselves."

"We should put the entire Horde on trial!" called a spectator furiously.

Faith stopped herself from rolling her eyes with difficulty. Of course the Alliance wanted the entire Horde put on trial. She looked to her right, where the leaders of the Alliance were seated. Most of them, including Vereesa, looked ready to jump.

Taran Zhu rang the gong once more, "Enough. We are here to ensure that justice is served in the interest of all the races of Azeroth, not to put everybody on trial."

He waited until people had simmered down before continuing, looking now at Garrosh, who had taken a seat next to Baine.

"Garrosh Hellscream," he said. "You have been charged with war crimes, and crimes against the very essence of sentient beings of Azeroth, as well as crimes against Azeroth itself. You are also charged for all acts committed in your name, or by those with whom you have allied."

Faith glanced at Sylvanas, wanting more than anything to hold her hand. Below them, Garrosh was merely sitting still, not saying a word.

"The charges are as follows: genocide. Murder. Forcible transfer of population. Enforced disappearance of individuals. Enslavement. Torture. The killing of prisoners."

Faith couldn't listen anymore. At every charge, memories flashed through her mind. She saw the way children had cowered before her as they'd tried to escape Theramore. Saw the explosion that had taken her mentor.

Felt the pain of the stab wounds that had killed her.

She shook her head, banishing the images as Taran Zhu finished with the list of crimes Garrosh had committed.

"What say you to these charges, Garrosh Hellscream?"

For a moment, Garrosh said nothing. But then, he brought his hands together and began to clap slowly, "A masterful performance," he said, his voice tinged with amusement. "The show has barely commenced, and I give it an ovation."

"Unbelievable," hissed Faith. "He could be executed, and he's making jokes."

She wasn't the only one to say something. Others, absolutely furious, started screaming again, and Taran Zhu was forced to remove several others from the room before he began to talk about the way the trial would be conducted.

Baine and Tyrande would both be allowed to call upon various witnesses to bolster their case. Each could question the witnesses on the stand, and use the Vision of Time to enhance the testimonies. The trial would likely go on for several days, and after the final witness, the August Celestials would render their verdict.

"Let us begin," he said. "You may call your first witness."

Tyrande stood, looking ravishing in an ethereal dress that seemed to be made of woven moonlight. She made everyone else look drab in comparison. But no matter what she looked like, her voice was strong, confident as she began to speak.

"Thank you, Fa'shua," she said to Taran Zhu. "I am here today because, while we all agree that Garrosh Hellscream is guilty of heinous crimes, we all need to agree on what his punishment should be. He should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, so that justice may be brought to the people he has wronged." She cleared her throat, "I would like to call Prophet Velen as my first witness."

Prophet Velen? Faith sat up straighter, wondering what he had to do with anything. Sure, the draenei had been affected by orcs in the past, but as far as she knew, they hadn't really been affected by Garrosh, except for those few who had been in Theramore.

And from what she could tell, Tyrande simply wanted to show how orcs had been barbaric from the start. She showed them a vision from Draenor's past, and the way a young Durotan had been befriended by some draenei, who showed them their city, hidden by magic.

Faith remembered learning about Durotan's betrayal after the orcs and draenei had begun to war against each other, but seeing it in front of her was something else entirely. She averted her eyes when Durotan showed the orcs how to get into the city of Telmor and the carnage began. The most disturbing part of the vision was the murder of a draenei child. Her blue blood looked so vivid that Faith could nearly feel it.

_What does this have to do with Garrosh? He's not responsible for what the orcs did before he was even born._

"Not every orc is like that," she said as Taran Zhu ordered an hour of respite. She and Sylvanas had immediately found each other, grasping hands the moment they were outside.

"You have to admit that a lot of them are bloodthirsty. They're worse than we are in some cases."

"Sylvanas, the only orcs who have ever betrayed me personally are Garrosh and his forces. Nobody else would do that. All of them have a notion of honor that Garrosh has forgotten."

"I know that." Sylvanas shook her head briefly, "I thought you wanted to see Garrosh dead?"

"I do, but not if it means putting every single orc's head on the chopping block."

Sylvanas turned her red eyes to her face, "He had you  _assassinated_ , Faith."

"I don't argue the fact that he shouldn't be put to death. I'm just saying that we shouldn't paint everyone with the same bloody brush, love."

"You painted the Scourge with the same brush."

Faith recoiled, letting go of Sylvanas' hand, "That's not a fair comparison, and you know it. How could you even bring it up? Are you saying that Thrall is like Garrosh? What about Garia and Vilak? And Eitrigg? What about Varok Saurfang?"

"You can't blame me for being wary of them all."

"You can't be! Sylvanas, the only reason they would all turn against you would be if you were to literally turn into a lich queen. But as things stand…"

"It's not me I'm worried about."

"They're certainly not going to kill me. What reason would they have to kill me? Garrosh had a reason, even if I don't like admitting it."

"He asked you to kill my sister, how were you supposed to react?! You wouldn't have done that even if I'd asked you to do it!"

"You wouldn't have asked me to kill Vereesa." Faith turned away, her eyes on one of the cherry trees below her. Sylvanas came to stand next to her a few seconds later, putting an arm around her waist. "I'm the one to blame for what happened to me."

"Don't say that."

"Baine will say it, and you know it. There's no way he's going to spare me there. Garrosh gave me a specific order, and not only did I not follow his orders in a combat situation, but I helped members of the Alliance escape."

"That makes you honorable, not a traitor. They were children."

Faith laughed without a trace of humor, "You've put soldiers to death for deserting you."

"If Garrosh had found you guilty of treason, he would have executed you himself, publicly. He wouldn't have sent two thugs to do the dirty work."

"When's the last time you publicly executed someone?"

"It's been a while. Nobody's betrayed me since Putress did." She kissed Faith's temple, "Look, nobody who knows you doubts your loyalty to the Horde. You were against what was happening in Theramore, so you didn't kill children. You and I mean everything to each other, so you didn't follow the order to kill a member of my family. I don't blame you, and I don't think Baine, Thrall, or Vol'jin find fault with what you did."

Faith shook her head, "Would you mind if I spent some time alone?"

"I'll be alone with you."

"Sylvanas –."

"You're not getting rid of me. I'm not about to allow you to sit by yourself and feel guilty about what you've done. As a leader of the Horde, I would have probably reprimanded you for disobeying orders. But as your lover, and as Vereesa's sister, I thank you for not killing her."

"I wouldn't have managed to kill her and Shandris anyway. I would have died there."

"Then I'm definitely thankful that you didn't try it."

"The outcome was the same, though. I still died."

Sylvanas shook her head but didn't voice her thoughts. Faith would have left her forever had she died in Dustwallow Marsh. She would have never come back to her. "I love you," she said after a while.

Faith didn't verbally answer. But the kiss she gave Sylvanas was enough to rock the Banshee Queen to the core. She felt Faith's love coursing through her as the kiss intensified. Arms wrapped around each other, they didn't notice the pandaren watching them, until he cleared his throat, embarrassed.

"You had better have a good reason for interrupting this," muttered Sylvanas, unimpressed. "Because that was one hell of a good kiss."

"A thousand apologies," he whispered. "I was told to give you something."

Sylvanas barely turned her head towards the pandaren, holing out a hand to take the small parcel the pandaren handed her. "Who is it from?"

"I was told that you would know." The pandaren bowed and left quickly.

Faith licked her lips, "You want me to leave you be?"

"No. But I would appreciate a portal to Undercity, if you wouldn't mind."

"Not at all." Releasing Sylvanas, Faith began to cast her spell, and the air began to shimmer in front of them distorting the peaceful landscapes of Kun-Lai Summit. A minute later, Undercity appeared in front of them, and Sylvanas stepped through the portal, dragging Faith with her.

They landed in the Undercity throne room, which was absolutely deserted. Sitting on her throne, Sylvanas opened the parcel, and a note fell out.

"Once, we were on the same side," she read in a low voice. "Perhaps we can be again."

Faith cocked her head to the side. That could have been written by anybody who had befriended Sylvanas when she'd been alive. She came closer and Sylvanas showed her the note. "Do you recognize the handwriting?" she asked.

"It looks familiar."

The parcel itself was a roughly hewn wooden box that had been engraved with Thalassian symbols. Sylvanas opened it.

A pendant rested on the velvet lining of the box. It was a ruby that Faith recognized instantly, because she'd seen it on the wearer's neck on more than one occasion. On the back of it, she knew, was an inscription that read: "To Vereesa. With love, Alleria."

"Little Moon," said Sylvanas, using the nickname Alleria had given her years ago.

Faith started moving away to give Sylvanas some time alone, but the Banshee Queen shot out an arm to grab her hand. "Will you go to her?"

Sylvanas nodded slowly, considering. "Of course I will… She's my baby sister." She pulled Faith to her, needing her close. "You'll come with me?"

"You should go to her alone. Every time I've been around the two of you, you both spoke to me, but not to each other."

"I think I'm going to need you by my side," said Sylvanas, displaying a vulnerable side of herself.

"Then I'll be there. When do you want to meet with her?"

"After court tomorrow. I think we'll both need a distraction after you testify. Speaking of which… is there anything you want to tell me about what I'm probably going to see? Something you might have kept from me?"

Faith shook her head, "I think I told you everything that happened. And if there's something I forgot, well… I guess we'll find out."


	4. Chapter 4

Had she been alive, Faith was certain that she would have been sick to her stomach at the thought of testifying against Garrosh. It wasn't that she was afraid. She had a shrewd idea of what was coming, but the thought of reliving what she'd been through was one that filled her with dread.

They had heard two witnesses that morning, neither of which had been easy to listen to. Prince Anduin had tried to advocate for peace, but even he hadn't been able to gloss over the facts. He had been physically uncomfortable, and it had been visible only in his eyes.

As for Vol'jin, his testimony had been brutal. The vision Tyrande had shown them had been far too vivid for Faith's liking. Seeing what had happened to her friend had made her feel like strangling the former warchief of the Horde, and she hadn't been alone.

"Faith."

She turned her head at the sound of Sylvanas' voice but said nothing.

"Are you ready?"

Ready. Ready to tell the world just how much she had been affected by her death? Relive everything that had happened to her? She wasn't sure she would ever be ready for that.

Instead of answering, she looked out at the landscape before her. The temple, sporadically illuminated by a sun that played hide-and-seek with the clouds, was still beautiful to her, but she feared that the trial would taint its loveliness.

Sylvanas put a hand on her back, "You don't have to do this if you don't want to, you know. People will understand."

"I doubt that. I'm in a unique position: Garrosh had me assassinated. I died, Sylvanas, I actually  _died_ , and now everyone's going to hear me talk about what it was like."

"It's going to be okay." Sylvanas turned her around to face her, "Hey. I'm here for you."

Faith nodded, "I know you are," she whispered.

"Just keep your eyes on me the entire time."

A small smile, "Are  _you_  ready?"

"No. But I'll be there regardless."

Faith bit her lip, "I wish you didn't have to go through this… I know it's going to be hard on you."

"Hard on  _me_ , you say." She paused and looked at her girlfriend. The woman who had been through so much and still managed to stand tall beside her. "A long while ago, I wondered what it would be like for us if we just ran away from everything. I wanted to take you out of your room and put you on Prince's back to get away from everyone around us."

"You did?" asked Faith, her voice small.

"Oh yes. I remember how much I wanted to just start my life with you. I wanted us to build a house from the ground up, because I knew that even if we made a mess of it, we would be in love and we'd be together, and everything would be okay."

Faith cleared her throat. Her voice was shaky when she next spoke, "Why didn't you?"

"I guess I was a coward. I was afraid to let myself feel everything I felt for you."

Blinking twice to keep tears from falling, Faith kissed her, "I wish you didn't have to feel what you're about to, Sylvanas. The last thing I want to do is hurt you."

"I think that we're both going to be hurt by what's going to happen in the next hour. But we're together. Nothing's going to change that. I… I love you."

"I love you."

They kissed.  It was almost desperate. An attempt to feel better before they each began to feel worse.

It was a while before they made their way back into the temple. People were waiting for them, some of them looking at them with pity, while others sneered at them. "It's almost as though they're looking forward to seeing me on the stand," said Faith quietly.

"It'll be okay. Just look at me, and you'll be great." Sylvanas stepped closer to her, "Remember, no matter what, you are strong, and you are mine."

A nod, "I'm yours. Are you mine?"

Sylvanas smiled, squeezing her hand once without answering. A moment later, she made her way towards where most of the other Horde leaders were sitting. Her smile disappeared as she took a seat, watching as spectators filed back into the temple. She wanted this to be over with quickly, but part of her felt that it would drag on and on, forcing her to relive what she felt was the worst moment of her life and undeath.

"Are you okay?" asked Lor'themar, leaning close to her.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" she snapped more forcefully than she meant to.

Lor'themar leaned back, surprised by her tone of voice, "This will be hard on a lot of us. We love her too."

Making a supreme effort not to laugh derisively, Sylvanas merely kept her eyes on Faith. "I'm sorry for your loss, Lor'themar."

The regent-lord of Quel'Thalas sighed, "That's not what I meant, Sylvanas. You don't have to do this on your own. You can lean on us, you know."

The idea of doing that was ridiculous. She had barely allowed herself to lean on anybody when she'd been alive, always needing to project an image of confidence. She'd let her guard down only slightly around the people closest to her, her sisters and some of the friends she'd had in her unit. She hadn't even leaned on Faith…

Saying nothing, she glanced at her lover, finding her with her eyes closed, trying to collect herself. It was almost as though she were trying to take a deep breath.

Baine and Tyrande walked back into the temple, along with the August Celestials and Taran Zhu. A few moments later, Garrosh was led in. Sylvanas glared at him, wanting to slowly end his life. She didn't care suddenly whether she would be executed for doing such a thing, didn't care about anything but the fact that this monster had killed her beloved.

_Sylvanas_ , came Faith's voice in her mind.

She turned her eyes to Faith, raising an eyebrow.

_You look like you're about to pounce, love._

Not caring in the slightest about what she looked like, Sylvanas kept looking at her.

_I love you_.

Sylvanas' eyes fluttered closed briefly at the admission. How many times were they going to say it to each other before it got annoying? Long ago, she had thought that people who said that to each other all day long were ridiculous and insecure. Now, she craved hearing those three words out of Faith's mouth.

"I would like to call Commander Faith Everstone to the stand," said Tyrande suddenly, making Sylvanas jump in her chair.

Faith stood gracefully, her cloak seeming to float behind her. Her hood was down, and her white hair somehow appeared to shine in the room. Many people started to murmur, some of them stunned by her appearance as she walked to the witness stand and sat down.

"She certainly knows how to dress to impress," whispered Thrall, who was sitting behind Sylvanas. "She looks amazing in that armor. One of your gifts, Sylvanas?"

"No, but I wish it were," she responded quietly. Faith really did look amazing. Strong. Like a queen.

"Do you pledge, Commander, to tell the whole truth before the Celestial Court?" Tyrande asked Faith.

Faith gave a nod, "I do."

Tyrande nodded as well, "You have been called as a witness today because you are in an interesting position, commander." She cleared her throat and looked at everyone in attendance, her eyes skirting over Sylvanas, "You were murdered, on Garrosh's orders, and yet here you still stand, raised into undeath by Sylvanas Windrunner."

"With respect, I protest!" cried Baine, standing up. "There is no evidence that the witness was murdered on Garrosh's orders."

Tyrande bowed to Taran Zhu, "With respect to my esteemed colleague, this is what we are here to prove. I do have evidence to implicate Garrosh in the murder of Faith Everstone."

"But Faith is alive," said Baine, looking as though he'd swallowed a lemon. "So Garrosh cannot technically be accused of her murder."

Members of the audience audibly gasped, some of them slapping hands over their mouths. People began to whisper harshly, and Taran Zhu slammed a small mallet on his tale to restore order.

"Sylvanas,  _do not move_!" said Faith suddenly, trying not to betray how pained she was by Baine's statement.

Sylvanas, who had been on the point of launching herself at Baine, squared her shoulders and cracked her knuckles. She seemed absolutely furious, her eyes blazing so red it was like looking at lava.

Tyrande had obviously been expecting Baine's comment, but it had shaken her. "If we follow your reasoning," she said in a low voice, "then you are stating that every single person who was killed and subsequently raised by the Scourge was not murdered."

"I agree with the Accuser," said Taran Zhu, holding up a paw. "Lady Sylvanas, control yourself."

Sylvanas nodded once, slowly, her gaze directed towards Baine now. She was so angry she was shaking.

Tyrande inclined her head towards Taran Zhu before addressing Faith again, "You believe that it was Garrosh Hellscream who had you murdered, is that correct?"

"Yes," said Faith.

"Why do you think that is?"

"Assuming that what most of us believe is correct, his actions stem directly from what happened in Theramore."

Tyrande made a small noise in the back of her throat, "You were opposed to going there, were you not?"

"I didn't think it was a good idea, no."

"How come, if I may ask?"

"I didn't think that attacking Theramore made any sense."

"But Theramore was a military city."

Faith shook her head, "It wasn't purely a military target. Civilians also lived there."

Tyrande merely smiled. "Is that what Garrosh thought?"

"I don't pretend to know what was going through Garrosh's mind when he decided to attack Theramore. All I understood from his plan was that he wanted to control all of Kalimdor."

"All of Kalimdor? That's certainly a statement to make. Did he give a reason for it?"

Faith thought back for a second, "Unless I remember wrong, he said that he wanted more control of the forests. I assume he was talking about Ashenvale."

"What else did he say?"

Faith was tempted to tell her to look at a vision, but suspected she'd already done so. "He said he wanted Theramore off the map. He… he wanted to purge all of Kalimdor of the Alliance."

"Did you voice any concerns about what he was planning?"

A nod, "I did. Most of us did, but he wouldn't listen to us."

"What did you say to him, exactly?"

"Just that he wouldn't be able to do it. Teldrassil alone would have been impossible to get to because it had been blessed again." She glanced at Sylvanas, "Sylvanas mentioned that the Alliance would be sure to retaliate against Undercity, because we were the closest enemy on the Eastern Kingdoms, and Garrosh stated that he would cripple the Alliance too well for it to make a difference."

Tyrande made a thoughtful sound, "You spoke out against it?"

"Yes."

"Why? You must have known how dangerous it was."

"I sometimes have trouble keeping my mouth shut when I should."

Sylvanas chuckled, and she wasn't alone. Lor'themar and Baine chuckled as well, as did Vereesa.

Tyrande smiled a little, though it didn't reach her eyes, "You wanted to keep the Alliance safe."

"I didn't feel like going through a battle that we didn't have to go through. If he wanted more control of the forests, there were other ways to have done it. At least, that was my opinion, and in the end, it really didn't matter."

"Because the attack still went on," said Tyrande. "Tell me, did someone accuse you of betraying the Horde then? After you voiced your opinions?"

Faith nodded again, "Malkorok came to talk to me. He asked me why I opposed Garrosh and that my actions could be interpreted as traitorous." She shrugged, "I didn't agree with what he was doing, but I knew that I had no choice but to obey him. Besides, Sylvanas had agreed to it and she later appointed me as commander of both the Forsaken and Sin'dorei forces."

"But Sylvanas herself didn't join in the attack, did she?"

"No, she didn't. Neither did Lor'themar."

"Why do you think that was?"

"You'd have to ask them that."

"So, you went back to Orgrimmar with a fleet of Forsaken and Blood Elves. What did you do then?"

Faith closed her eyes for a second, wishing she could hold Sylvanas' hand. "We began our march towards Theramore. There were a few Alliance outposts in the Southern Barrens, and we got rid of them so quickly they didn't realize what had hit them. There were attacks on Honor's Stand as well, to distract the troops in the area. We pressed on, attacking Northwatch Hold before dawn. They weren't ready for us at all."

"And you had no problem killing soldiers, despite your misgivings?"

"I had plenty of misgivings, but there was nothing I could do. I would have been executed for treason otherwise."

Tyrande nodded, "Someone warned Theramore of what was happening. Who was it?"

Faith glanced at Baine, who simply inclined his head. "Baine sent a runner to Jaina. He didn't want them to be caught completely unawares. I wish I could say that it made it easier to do what we had to do."

"What happened once you got to Theramore?"

"We attacked. I ordered the Forsaken and Sin'dorei to only attack armed soldiers and to give civilians a chance to escape if they could. We didn't realize until after we'd arrived that the Kirin Tor and Vereesa had arrived to help defend the city."

Tyrande nodded, "You knew Rhonin Redhair, didn't you?"

"I did, yes… he was my mentor, not to mention a friend." She glanced at Vereesa, then went on, "The defensive barrier around Theramore fell faster than I would have thought possible. I hadn't realized that the Kirin Tor had been betrayed from within by Thalen Songweaver until that moment. Garrosh was jubilant."

Tyrande looked at her notes, "Is that when he called for you?"

Faith looked at her squarely, "Yes. He told me to go after Vereesa Windrunner and Shandris Feathermoon and kill them, because they were after Thalen."

There was a ringing silence. Not everyone had been aware of what Garrosh had ordered her to do.

"Knowing that you are Sylvanas Windrunner's lover, he told you to kill her sister?"

Nodding slowly, Faith turned her glance towards the Alliance. "I thought he was kidding at first, but he was really expecting me to kill them. Or at least, he was serious when he gave me the order. But I think he knew that I'd never be able to do something like that. Maybe I would have attempted to kill Shandris, had she been alone but… I couldn't have killed Vereesa."

"May it please the court," said Tyrande, "I would like to show the first Vision for this witness."

Taran Zhu nodded, and Chromie immediately stepped onto the table that held the hourglass. Using her magic, she awoke one of the dragons there, who sprung to life. A vision unfolded, filling most of the room. It wasn't a vision of Theramore, but one of Orgrimmar, with Garrosh and Malkorok in Grommash Hold.

" _That girl thinks that she can say whatever she wants just because she's Sylvanas' little whore," spat Malkorok._

_Garrosh chuckled, "Don't worry, she'll certainly get what's coming to her."_

" _She has no business in the Horde. Helping the Alliance all the time… is it really true that she helped them in Northrend?"_

" _She said at the time that it was because she didn't want to see them fall to the Scourge. But she could have killed them and burned their corpses to keep them from being raised, it would have been better for everyone." Garrosh shook his head. "I have something planned for her. She won't leave Theramore alive. If she's so keen on helping the Alliance, she can die with them. And once I'm done with her, I'll deal with Sylvanas and her sewer rats."_

" _You're going to kill Faith? How?"_

_Garrosh tapped one of his tusks thoughtfully, "Even I can't just have her killed out of the blue. We could make it look like an accident, of course. Have her trapped in Theramore while everything happens or… maybe force her to betray us."_

_An evil smile lit Malkorok's face, "Oh, I like the way you think, Warchief. Everybody will discredit her if she betrays us."_

The vision faded to black, and Faith stared at the spot where it had been, stunned. Garrosh had planned to kill her even before they had marched on Theramore? There was complete silence in the temple as people thought about what they had seen. Glancing around, Faith saw that Vereesa looked nauseated. Sylvanas was once again shaking with fury, and next to her, Lor'themar's face was pale, clenching his hands so hard that his knuckles were white.

Tyrande, obviously relishing the shock her vision had caused, stood up again, "Garrosh Hellscream planned to have Faith killed weeks before Faith did anything against the Horde. He did not know that Vereesa Windrunner would be in Theramore, but as soon as he realized she was there, he had his plan. I have another vision to show you."

Chromie got to work again, and this time, they were all faced with the Battle of Theramore, as seen from Garrosh's point of view. He looked very happy with the turn of events. Gore splattered his hands and his axe, and a large grin was on his face.

" _I see that our friend was able to lend us a hand," said Garrosh to Malkorok. "Were you able to see who the additional defenders were?"_

_Malkorok nodded, "Indeed I was. Vereesa Windrunner is here, Warchief. She's helping the Alliance."_

_Garrosh began to laugh, "Is she now? Good. That's exactly what I need to take care of the Everstone girl."_

The vision ended, but it had had the desired effect.

"'Exactly what I need to take care of the Everstone girl,'" repeated Tyrande. "There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Garrosh Hellscream knew he was going to have Faith Everstone murdered, and when he found out that Ranger-General Vereesa Windrunner was in Theramore, he came up with his plan. Commander, you stated that you thought Garrosh knew that you wouldn't be able to kill her. We have just seen that all of it was a ruse to have you killed. What have you to say about that?"

"I knew that my actions, or my inactions, could get me killed," said Faith in a voice that seemed to come from another body. "Garrosh… he and I fought the Scourge together in Northrend, but he didn't like me then either. He thought I was weak."

"But you killed Arthas."

"I guess that doesn't matter. I'm a woman, and I'm not an orc. To him, I was an inferior being."

"Do you think that he hated the fact that you're in a relationship with a woman?"

Faith blinked once, not having expected that question. "That particular topic never came up, so I really couldn't say."

Tyrande nodded, "What happened after you saw Vereesa and Shandris in Dustwallow Marsh?"

"We saw the mana bomb hit Theramore. We knew that…" Faith's voice shook, and she cleared her throat once. "We knew that Rhonin was gone. That everyone who had remained in Theramore had been killed. I made a portal for Vereesa and Shandris so that they could go to Dalaran, and I went back to Garrosh."

"What did you tell him?"

"That I hadn't found them. He seemed to believe me, and we all went back to Orgrimmar. I just wanted to teleport back to Undercity, but he wouldn't let me. When we got to Orgrimmar, we saw that there was a huge celebration going on. It was bigger than our homecoming after the Northrend campaign, as if we had done something amazing. I wasn't the only one just wanting to leave."

"There were others who felt as you did?"

"What we did in Theramore was without honor. The Horde was founded with honorable principles after the orcs broke free from the Burning Legion. Razing a city to the ground just because we can doesn't make any sense. Doing so with a mana bomb… Like Vol'jin said earlier, that's not what the Horde is about."

Tyrande smiled at her, but it looked more like a sneer, "Did you remain in Orgrimmar for the celebrations?"

Faith shook her head, "No. I really wasn't in the mood to celebrate, so I went to Razor Hill, where my Forsaken and Sin'dorei troops had gone. Baine and Vol'jin were there as well. I didn't really remain there long, but Malkorok found us."

"May it please the court, I have a final vision to show for this witness," said Tyrande. She motioned to Chromie, who looked at Faith sadly, activating the Vision of Time again.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
** I can't tell you how many times I thought about writing this section of the story. And for some reason, it didn't come out the way I envisioned it... I hope that it met your expectations!

Lunarelle


	5. Chapter 5

Faith looked at Sylvanas as the vision unfolded in front of them.

_It was dark on Razor Hill. Stars twinkled in an infinite night sky, seeming to relay the day's events to one another._

_On the hard-packed earth of the hill, a gray-skinned orc walked quietly. There wasn't much celebrating here, not as in Orgrimmar, and things were a lot less rowdy. A couple of guards nodded to him, but that was all._

_Behind the inn, two orcs waited for him. Twins, they had already proven their loyalties to Garrosh by taking care of some unpleasant business for Orgrimmar, for which they had been given a fair amount of coin._

" _Hail, friend," said one of them in a gruff voice._

_Raising a hand in welcome, Malkorok stepped close to them, "Have you seen her? Is she here?"_

_The second orc nodded, "We saw her going inside just a few minutes ago."_

_Malkorok nodded, "You both know what you have to do. Garrosh wants it to look like an accident, so if she comes out alone tonight, take care of her. If she's accompanied… kill whoever is with her, unless it's one of the other leaders."_

_He reached into a pouch at his belt and pulled out a vial of liquid, "Coat your blades with this. She doesn't react well to nerubian venom, so it will make it harder for her to get away from you, should she manage to try."_

_The two orcs laughed quietly, excited at the prospect of completing the task they'd been given._

" _Just wait a bit and see if she comes out," said Malkorok to them._ _"_ _If she doesn't, make sure to get out of here when you see the innkeeper leaving."_ _He left them, and they settled down to wait, their eyes scanning the night._

_They could hear people drinking inside the inn, but the sound was muted by the walls._ _It didn't sound like a lot of reveling was going on._ _They watched as a couple of orcs walked by them, drunkenly singing a crude song._ _As their voices faded away, the inn_ _'_ _s door opened again, and a pretty blood elf stepped outside._ _She sighed once, turning her face to the stars and beginning to walk along the road._

_The orcs smiled, their eyes glinting as they followed her, their feet making no sound at all on the red earth._ _They separated._

" _Well, well._ _Look at the pretty young elf out on her own," said the first orc, the older of the twins._

_Faith turned around, "Good evening," she said._

In the temple, Faith watched the scene before her, biting her lip to stop herself from screaming out a warning. She didn't want to look at herself getting attacked, and so slid her gaze towards Sylvanas, who sat, frozen in place, her eyes fixed on the scene before her…

* * *

The Banshee Queen didn't move a muscle as she watched the thugs beginning to stab Faith over and over again. There were sounds, Faith's moans of pain and the orcs grunting as they took pleasure in their attack, cutting her to pieces and stifling any louder screams with their hands. She extended a hand, incinerating one of the orcs, then the other as the inn exploded.

Everyone in the room was aware of time in the vision passing by, although for them, it was only a minute. They looked on as Faith lay on the ground, bleeding to death, unmoving, the rise and fall of her back seeming to lessen little by little. People ran past her, but none paid attention to her as they went to the inn.

Just as the inn's flames were extinguished, Faith stirred. Sylvanas had no idea how she had managed to survive as long as she had, but she had evidently had enough strength to find the hearthstone in her pocket. She activated it.

The vision shimmered as Faith landed in the Undercity throne room, and now, Sylvanas closed her eyes as she heard herself give an otherworldly shriek of despair. Next to her, she felt Lor'themar reach out and take her hand. Surprised, Sylvanas squeezed his fingers once before releasing him. Her eyes opened, and she saw Faith – her Faith – looking at her, her face a mask of shock.

_Hang in there, love_ , she whispered in her mind.

The vision ended. Everyone in the temple was quiet. Taran Zhu looked troubled, and even the August Celestials were uneasy.

Tyrande got to her feet, "Nothing further," she said in a low voice. "Your witness."

Baine looked at Faith, hating the position he was in, hating what he was about to do.

"That was not easy to watch," he began as he stood. "Do you need a break, Commander?"

Faith shook her head, despite the fact that she looked like she was about to be sick. Sylvanas longed to go to her.

"What was going through your mind while you were being attacked?"

"Honestly, I thought about Sylvanas. I didn't want to leave her."

Several people smiled sadly. Faith noticed some of them leaning towards each other and grasping hands. Sylvanas, for her part, shook her head, a small smile playing on her features.

"Did you know you were dying?"

"Obviously."

"Until this instant, you didn't know for sure that Garrosh had ordered your execution. How do you feel about it now?"

"I feel that if he truly had wanted me to be executed, he would have done so in a public setting instead of ordering two thugs to kill me in the dead of night."

"But you did betray the Horde. Our new warchief himself said that he would also order traitors to be killed."

Faith looked at him before turning her eyes to the leaders of the Horde, "I willingly disobeyed Garrosh's orders, I freely admit that. But I don't think that it's fair for you to accuse me of betraying the Horde, when we just saw that Garrosh was planning to kill me even before he gave me any orders to follow." She shrugged, "The way I see it, Garrosh betrayed me, not the other way around."

"But you spoke out against what he wanted to do."

"Yes I did. But I still went to Theramore, despite whatever I thought. I obeyed every order he gave me until he told me to do the one thing I wasn't able to do."

"So why did you not tell him that you thought yourself incapable of performing your duties? Surely you could have asked someone else to go after General Feathermoon and Ranger-General Windrunner?"

Ranger-General Windrunner. That phrase brought back all sorts of memories for Faith. "There aren't many people in this room who would take these kinds of orders, and  _all_  of you know it. I made a choice between the Horde in general, and Sylvanas. Given the chance, I would make the same choice today."

Baine decided not to press the issue, but changed tracks at the speed of light. "What you did in Theramore… it was not the first time that you helped out members of the Alliance."

"That's right," said Faith.

"You helped the Alliance at Farshire during the Northrend campaign, and also helped a few gnomes in the Borean Tundra." He rifled through his notes, "And also a couple of times just recently. You helped Prince Anduin when he had been caught by the Horde."

Faith smiled, "Yes I did."

"Why?"

"I keep having to explain my actions in Northrend…" said Faith quietly. "Garrosh answered your question in one of the visions earlier: I wasn't going to stand there and watch them turn into the Scourge. As for my actions in Pandaria, I should think that was obvious."

Baine raised his eyebrows, "Please explain."

Faith's chuckle was dark, terrifying, "Garrosh had already killed me. What reason did I have to help him do anything?"

"But you've always resented the war against the Alliance."

"Yes."

"Even when Sylvanas was for it?"

A nod, "Right."

"So even then, you betrayed the Horde."

"Is it betraying the Horde to refuse to kill members of the Alliance arbitrarily? I don't kill them because I know that there are ways to work with them as long as we have an enemy in common."

"Like what?"

"The Burning Legion. The Scourge. Deathwing. The sha and the mogu." She gestured towards Garrosh, "Our former warchief."

"So you considered him an enemy once you came to Pandaria."

"He had me killed. How else should I feel about it?"

"Maybe you shouldn't be a member of the Horde if you view our warchief as an enemy."

Faith laughed, "I don't consider Warchief Vol'jin to be my enemy, quite the contrary."

"Oh, so you're not planning on betraying Vol'jin?"

"Vol'jin, I hope, would know better than to ask me to betray the woman I love."

Baine stared at her. Shaking his head briefly, he sat down, "No more questions."

Taran Zhu nodded, "Thank you, Commander Everstone. We will take a break and reconvene in an hour." He tapped his mallet on the table once, and everyone got up to leave. Faith, being in no mood to talk to anyone, went out one of side doors, wishing she could just teleport home.

She found herself under one of the blossoming cherry trees, and began to climb it until she was half-concealed in its branches. A dusty tear slowly coursed down her cheek, and before she'd even considered calming herself down, she'd burst into choked sobs.

It took Sylvanas less than a minute to track her and join her. She didn't say anything, simply wrapping an arm around Faith while managing to keep them both in balance on the branch.

Nearly ten minutes passed in that fashion, with Faith slowly getting herself under control. Finally, she looked up, the glow in her eyes temporarily extinguished, "You shouldn't have seen that," she told Sylvanas, her voice a little rough. "Are you okay?"

"No. Less so when I see you like this."

"Can we go home? Just for a bit."

"Sure. I'll go ask for a portal. You're in no condition to try anything right now." She held up a hand, "Don't argue with me." She hopped down from the tree before helping Faith, catching her as she nearly fell on top of her. Together, they went to one of the pandaren mages, who created a portal for them to use, asking them to be back in a half hour.

They arrived in the Undercity throne room to find it completely empty, save for the guards who were stationed there. Secure in the knowledge that they wouldn't be disturbed, Sylvanas took Faith to her office, closing and locking the door behind them. She leaned her forehead against the wood briefly, willing for time to slow around them.

Faith put a hand on her back, "I'm sorry you had to go through that," she whispered, dropping a kiss on her ear.

Twitching her ear, Sylvanas turned around, taking a step closer to her, nearly fusing their bodies together as she hugged her tightly.

"That might have been the hardest thing I've ever done. You were in so much pain, and I couldn't… I…"

"Shh, baby. It's over, you don't have to think about it anymore. Please, honey. I don't want you to hurt as well." Faith kissed her, gently stroking their tongues together.

Sylvanas pulled away from her briefly, looking at her. A moment later, she groaned and molded her body to Faith's kissing her deeply. Passion rose between them, and before either of them knew it, they were on the bed, armor half-off, unwilling to take the time to undress completely.

She brought Faith to climax once, twice before they switched positions. Faith was thorough in her ministrations, her tongue delicate against her while her fingers mercilessly stroked her flesh. They both said each other's names, quietly, privately. They kissed again.

"No matter how many times we do this," said Faith gently as they got dressed again, "I never cease to be amazed."

Sylvanas smiled at her, helping her put her boots back on and taking the opportunity to kiss the arch of her foot as she did so, "By how good it always is?"

A nod. "I love you. Do I tell you that enough?"

"Every day." She stood, breaking contact with her lover, who protested.

"Come back here…"

"No, no. If I come back, we'll lose another hour making love."

"But it'll be time well spent." Faith slowly ran a hand down her own body.

Sylvanas watched her for a couple of seconds before turning away from her, a small smile on her face. "We should go, my darling."

Faith pouted, but got up and looped an arm around Sylvanas' waist, kissing her ear, which twitched. "I don't want to sit apart from you," she said in such a low voice that the queen barely heard her.

"The worst is over."

"I know." She said nothing else about it, merely looking at Sylvanas' profile as they walked and feeling a love so strong that it would have taken her breath away, had she still been able to draw breath. "I love you so much…"

The tone of Faith's voice caused Sylvanas to stop in her tracks. She put a gentle hand on Faith's face, wiping away the lone dusty tear slipping down her cheek, "I love you too, Faith." She pressed her lips to her forehead, "Don't cry."

"I'm sorry, Sylvanas, it's just… I don't know what just happened." She rested her forehead against Sylvanas' and closed her eyes for a minute, composing herself. "Sorry. I'm okay." She made to move away, but Sylvanas pulled her close again.

"Take another moment, love," she said quietly.

Faith did, her eyes closed again as her mind went over visions of the two of them in happier times. "I can't believe we didn't tell each other how we felt before."

A smile tugged at the corner of Sylvanas' lips. "I had a dozen reasons back then for not telling you about my feelings."

"And all of them were crap. So were mine."

They started walking again "What were your reasons?"

Faith shrugged, "I was afraid you didn't love me back. That you'd laugh at me and marry someone else just to hurt me."

"Hurt you… on purpose?" Sylvanas began to laugh. "When did I do that while I was alive?"

"Never. But it didn't stop me from being afraid. What were your reasons?"

"Besides our parents, who would have had a fit if they'd known? I don't know, sweetheart. I loved you, and I knew how much you loved me. But I was afraid that we'd make a mess of it."

"That we would try, and that we wouldn't like it?" asked Faith as a portal materialized in front of them. Together, they stepped through it, landing back at the Temple of the White Tiger.

"We loved each other so much. What if we tried and realized we hated each other?" She shook her head, "We were idiots."

"And now?"

"Oh, we're still idiots." Sylvanas laughed, lightly scratching her back before releasing her.

A pandaren walked up to them, bowing to Sylvanas, "I apologize, Lady Sylvanas, but court will not reconvene today. It seems that Garrosh has something to discuss with someone of import."

Sylvanas stared at her, "Someone of import?" she repeated, perplexed. "I don't care if he's talking to a Titan, why should we pay attention to what he wants to do?"

Faith put a hand on the queen's shoulder, massaging gently and causing her to glance back, "This means you and I have more time to ourselves today. Don't complain."

"Complain? I don't complain."

A smile, "Whatever you say, my Lady." She put an arm around Sylvanas' waist and addressed the pandaren, "When is court resuming?"

"Tomorrow morning, Commander Everstone."

"Then we'll make sure to be there for that." She thanked the pandaren and led Sylvanas away from everyone, "Do you want to go back to Undercity or shall we go home for that business with your sister?"

"I thought Undercity  _was_  home," Sylvanas told her quietly.

" _You_  are my home, Sylvanas."

Sylvanas absorbed that sentence and all the feelings that came with it, surprised, even now, at how much Faith's words could still knock her sideways. Blinking, she opened her mouth to say something, then shook her head not having a clue how to respond to her statement. She settled for locking her eyes with Faith's and staying there for a while, just looking at her. Faith looked right back, her hands gently rubbing her sides.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I know," said Sylvanas in an equally low voice. She leaned forward and brushed her lips against Faith's in a kiss that was so light it was like a feather's touch. Not satisfied in the slightest, Faith stepped forward, meaning to kiss her more, but Sylvanas chuckled and moved away. "Can you make us a portal?"

Faith licked her lips, "Where to?"

"Undercity, for starters. We can take Ivory and make our way home with her."

Pretending to think about it, Faith put her hands on her hips, "I don't know, my Lady. This might require some form of… payment."

Sylvanas' gaze focused on her the way it did when she was turned on. "I'll make it worth your while."

"How?" Faith stepped closer to her, bringing her lips to her ear, "Will you bury your head between my thighs and lick my flesh until I scream out for you?" She pitched her voice lower, "Will you make me squirm? Will you allow me to make love to you however I want? For hours, until you are utterly spent and can feel nothing but me inside you?"

Sylvanas was perfectly still, not saying a word. Her body wanted to scream out at Faith, wanted to ravage her right there in the snow. She could have done it, and she was sure that Faith would have been able to cast a spell on them so that nobody would see or hear them. After a moment, she turned her head deliberately, "Is that your final payment request?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and knowing that she looked indifferent.

Faith smiled, "It is."

"Done."

"Really?" Faith sounded surprised.

"Did you think I'd refuse to sleep with you?"

"No. But you're busy."

"You know I can always make time for you. Shall we go, or would you like to talk about what you'd like to do to me some more?"

"Mmm, don't tempt me. Talking about it is going to make me want it right now." She stuck out her tongue at Sylvanas, before turning away from the queen and conjuring a shimmering portal next to them. "After you, my heart."


	6. Chapter 6

The white bat glided in the air above the Ghostlands. On her back, Sylvanas held on to Faith, her arms around her waist and her head resting her head against her shoulder. Occasionally, she kissed the shell of Faith's ear. Faith kept a hand on Sylvanas' leather-clad leg, squeezing whenever they flew over a familiar landmark.

They touched down on the beach behind Windrunner Spire. Once, the sand had been almost white, pure and fine. Now, it looked sickly gray and coarse, and wasn't really pleasant to walk on, squelching as though caked in some unimaginable slime.

_What have they done to our beach?_  Faith looked around, dismayed even after so many years.

Memories collided with each other in her mind. Flashes of swimming in a crystal-clear ocean while Sylvanas watched her from the shore, seeing her riding down the beach and looking so beautiful…

She blinked and shook her head. Next to her, Sylvanas glanced at her before putting an arm around her. She wanted to tell Faith to stop thinking of the times they'd been alive on this very beach, but found that she too was thinking about them.

She remembered Faith, young and innocent, stealing glances at her when she had thought herself unnoticed. Remembered the way she had felt for this girl a few years later, a girl who had gotten under her skin. How much she had been in love with her.

"Why didn't I tell you?" she asked gently, her voice almost too low to hear. She held Faith tighter, finally wrapping both her arms around her in a long embrace. Faith hugged her back, her eyes closed. "We could have had so long together, my darling… so long."

Dusty tears running down her cheek, Faith kissed the line of her jaw, "Hey. We've been together over ten years. Sure, we've had our ups and downs, but we've done okay, haven't we?"

Sylvanas buried her head in Faith's neck, "Yeah.  Yeah, we've done okay," she muttered. "You know, you're my longest relationship?"

"What a coincidence, you're mine."

A chuckle, "I'm your  _only_  relationship. I still find it incredible that you never ran off with someone."

"You were the only person I ever wanted to be with. Trying to be with anybody else would have been treason." Faith suddenly kissed her so passionately that Sylvanas felt her heart trying to quiver in her chest. She had to take a step back to keep her balance so that she and Faith wouldn't go tumbling down.

She licked her lips when Faith pulled away, blinking a couple of times. "Wow," she said softly. "You can do that again anytime, love."

Faith grinned, "Was it good?"

A smile, "Good enough to scramble my brain." She sat down on the sparse grass that petered out before it met the beach, resting her back against an old tree and pulling Faith down to sit between her legs. She kept her arms around her, stroking the top of her hands gently. "What would you do if you could go back in time?"

"I'd marry you," said Faith immediately.

"I walked right into that one," muttered Sylvanas, pressing her lips to Faith's cheek.

"Mm, yes you did. You also knew that's what I was going to answer, which is why you asked me."

"Maybe I did." She pulled Faith as close as she could without the two of them actually merging their bodies together and looked out at the dark ocean. It was relatively quiet, if one ignored the sounds of the banshees gliding through the trees behind them.

For a while, they waited, just savoring the pleasure of being together without needing to say anything. They wouldn't have said such a thing to each other, but both of them cherished their quiet moments together, where nothing intruded on their time. No letters needed to be answered nor was there an immediate crisis claiming their attention. They didn't even have to desperately make love. For several minutes, they were simply there, together and resting comfortably.

They heard Vereesa arrive before they saw her. Faith got up first, and Sylvanas got up right after her, keeping their hands joined.

"What's she doing?" wondered Sylvanas, cocking her head to the side.

Faith chuckled, "Target practice."

They walked a little, seeing Vereesa taking down banshee after banshee. Suddenly, she saw them, and she turned her loaded bow towards them. Sylvanas swiftly moved to stand in front of Faith.

"Have a care, sister," she said. "I don't think you want to kill  _these_  banshees."

Vereesa relaxed her arm. Her blue eyes were wide. "I didn't know there were so many of them left here," she said.

"They're not with the Scourge anymore," Faith told her, stepping out from behind Sylvanas and gently squeezing her shoulder. "Hello, Vereesa."

"Faith," said Vereesa quietly. Her eyes flicked over Sylvanas' form, "Hi."

Sylvanas nodded, "Hi." She raised her eyebrows, "Having fun killing my rangers?"

"They're not all your rangers, are they?"

"Most of them. So, what can we do for you?"

Vereesa glanced at Faith once, and said nothing.

Faith began to say that she would make herself scarce, but Sylvanas put an arm around her, "Deal with me, deal with my lover too. That's the deal, Vereesa."

"Honey, I can go for a walk and come back in a little while."

"I don't want you away from me, Faith. Not after this morning."  _Not ever_ , a small voice inside her added. She closed her eyes as Faith placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

"It's okay, baby. I'm not going to disappear off the face of Azeroth, I promise. I'll just be in your room."

"My room?" asked Sylvanas, perplexed.

Faith pointed up to the ruins of Windrunner Spire. A lot of it had been defaced, but most of it still stood, including the area where Sylvanas' room had been.

Sylvanas smiled, looking up at the window that had been hers, "I'd rather you stayed with me, if you don't mind."

"The things you think I mind doing are a little mind-boggling. No, I don't mind staying with you. I'm happiest with you, actually, in case you hadn't noticed." She turned her gaze to Vereesa, "Sorry, but I must do as my queen commands."

Vereesa shook her head, smiling slightly, "I forgot how difficult it could be to separate the two of you. Even when you were alive…" her smile faltered. "I'm here because of the trial."

"So I gathered." Sylvanas, dropping her arm from Faith's shoulders, made her way towards what had been the Windrunner's garden. Once beautifully tended, with lush green plants and a riot of flowers, it had fallen into ruin like the rest of the house. Venomous mushrooms grew near one of the overturned benches. Cobwebs, strung between trees, dangled their threads in the cold breeze that blew from Deatholme.

"We can't let Garrosh be acquitted by the Celestial Court," said Vereesa, her tone pleading.

"I don't think that anybody believes that Garrosh will be allowed to walk free for quite some time," Faith told her.

"But he won't be sentenced to death. You both know that, don't you?"

Sylvanas gave a nod, "Yes, I'm aware of how the Celestial Court operates."

"Don't you want him dead?" asked Vereesa.

Sylvanas' eyes blazed a brilliant ruby red, "I want him dead almost more than I want anything else in this world, Vereesa. What are you asking me this for?"

"He… he killed my Rhonin. He killed Faith, but you brought her back. I don't have Rhonin at all anymore… he's gone…" Vereesa burst into tears, and Sylvanas waited only a second before she crossed to her sister, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Vereesa clung to her, sobbing.

Observing this, Faith felt a lump rising in her throat. She closed her eyes, knowing that if she cried, Sylvanas would go to her at once. So she turned away, meaning to walk to Windrunner Village for a bit.

_Faith, don't you go anywhere. I need you here._

Faith jumped slightly at the sound of Sylvanas' thoughts inside her mind.  _You don't. Vereesa needs you right now. I'm fine._

_Baby, please_.

She couldn't refuse her, even though she felt like she was intruding on something private.

Sylvanas chuckled in her mind,  _You've literally had your tongue inside me. It doesn't get more private than that, sweetheart._

Shocked, Faith glared over at her. She and Vereesa had let each other go, Vereesa wiping at her eyes while Sylvanas stared openly at Faith. "You're incorrigible, Sylvanas," she hissed, walking towards them.

_What can I say, love, I know what I want._

Faith had a sudden image of Sylvanas draped over the one of the stone benches, crying out while Faith licked inside her.

A slow blink. Sylvanas' gaze became more focused.  _Keep that up, and I swear to you I'll make you pay for it when we get home._

"You two look like you're melding minds or something," sniffled Vereesa. She looked at Faith, "How did you survive it? When…" her voice trailed off and she indicated Sylvanas.

"When Sylvanas was killed?" finished Faith. "I didn't, not really. It's been over a decade and I'm not over what happened. Ask her, I spent hours crying when I first came back to her."

"When you  _first_  came back to me?" Sylvanas nearly laughed, "There were days I couldn't get you out of bed, Faith, even after the first two years. Light, you cried a lot."

"My situation is a little different though," Faith told Vereesa as she took Sylvanas' hand. "For a year, all I knew was that she had been murdered and raised to become a member of the Scourge. I couldn't believe it. But she was still alive, sort of. After I got back to her, I still… I was able to tell her all the things I hadn't done in life."

Vereesa gave a strangled sob, clamping a hand over her mouth.

"I do know that Rhonin wouldn't want you to fall into despondency because of him. You have the twins, Vereesa. Your children are a part of him, a direct product of your love. You have a lot to live for."

"I want Garrosh dead." Vereesa gave a big sniff and looked up at Sylvanas, "I want us to kill him."

Faith stared at her, speechless. Kill him? Vereesa was suggesting an assassination?

Even Sylvanas seemed surprised, "What made you come to that conclusion?"

"He's murdered hundreds of people, Sylvanas! He shouldn't be allowed to live, and you know it. And you agree with me, don't pretend that you don't."

"I agree he should die, but it's going to be a little difficult to pull off with everyone at the trial. I can't just waltz up to him and put an arrow through his throat."

"You could probably kill him from miles away."

Sylvanas' smile didn't reach her eyes, "I could, if the August Celestials hadn't put a hundred magical borders around the Temple of the White Tiger. But as it is, I won't be able to do it. And judging by how rigid Faith is, she doesn't want me to do it." She nudged her lover, "You don't agree."

"Garrosh is on trial," began Faith slowly. "You'd be killing a prisoner of war, Sylvanas."

"Because  _he_  didn't kill prisoners?"

Faith shook her head, "We're not him."

Sylvanas cleared her throat loudly enough to send a couple of carrion birds flying away in fright, "You killed Arthas."

"I… that's different!"

"How?" asked Vereesa. "Arthas killed Sylvanas, so you went to kill him. You may say that you did it for the good of Azeroth, but I know that your motives were much more selfish than you've led people to believe."

"I never once denied the fact that I was seeking revenge when I killed Arthas. But we were at war. Arthas was actively killing people and raising them into undeath."

"And had we arrested Arthas, would you have stood by and watched as someone allowed him to stay alive and remain imprisoned until the end of time?" Sylvanas brushed a lock of white hair from Faith's forehead, "You would have never allowed that to happen."

Faith said nothing, looking at Sylvanas with wide eyes.

"It doesn't make you evil, my love. It makes you normal. You hated him for what he did to me. Sure, you wanted to help people fight off the Scourge in general, but your ultimate goal was to avenge my death." She gathered Faith into her arms, "It's okay."

"This is why I wanted to have this conversation with you in private," murmured Vereesa.

"Are you afraid Faith will betray us?" Sylvanas' voice was suddenly much harsher. "I think she's proven her loyalty to our family, sister."

Vereesa shook her head, "I'm not saying that at all. I just know that Faith doesn't like to hear you talking about killing people, even if it's the one who murdered her."

"Faith's a big girl, Vereesa. She can take it." She walked to the only bench that hadn't been toppled over and sat on it, pulling Faith on her lap. After a few seconds, Vereesa joined them.

"Would you… would you have anything that could kill him?"

"Poison, you mean. That's an idea. I could have the Royal Apothecary Society work on an undetectable poison that would kill Garrosh quickly. But how would you administer it?"

"In his food, maybe. I heard that the pandaren give him three excellent meals a day."

Sylvanas snorted, "Excellent meals. It's more than he deserves."

Faith traced idle patterns on Sylvanas' leg, "May I say something?" she asked. She waited for Sylvanas to nod before she continued, "What I want you both to realize is that killing Garrosh may not do anything for either of you. It won't bring back the dead, and it might not even make you feel any better."

"Maybe not, but it'll go a long way towards solving the problem," said Sylvanas, squeezing her waist once. "You really don't agree with this, do you?"

"No. But I'll support you, no matter what you decide to do. Both of you."

"You don't have to support me," said Vereesa quickly.

Faith turned her head to look at Vereesa directly, "I thought I'd made my stance clear in Theramore. You're a part of her, right, so I'll be there for you, just as I am for her."

Not knowing what to say, Vereesa contented herself with using her fingernail to scrape off a bit of moss from the bench.

"Would you like to reconvene here in a couple of days?" asked Sylvanas.

Vereesa nodded, seeming distracted. "I don't know what to do with my life."

"You have children, sweetheart. What you need to do now is dedicate your life to raising them."

"After we kill Garrosh."

"Fine. After we kill Garrosh. And even now. Your kids need you."

"What about you, Sylvanas? Do you need me?" Vereesa looked shattered at that moment, far too young to have gone through everything she'd been through in her life.

"You're my sister," said Sylvanas simply.

Vereesa sighed, "If anything were to happen to me… you'd take care of the twins, right?"

"Honey, nothing's going to happen to you," Faith told her. She saw genuine worry in Vereesa's eyes, and gave a nod, "But of course we would. We can't go to Dalaran anymore, but we'd make sure they were loved."

"They're very fond of you."

Faith smiled, "And we're fond of them. Even though Sylvanas won't admit it, because she prides herself on having a heart of black stone."

"Nobody who has seen the two of you together would think that Sylvanas has a heart of stone, trust me. Well, Greymane might."

"Greymane hates us," said Sylvanas. "And the feeling is quite mutual."

Vereesa looked like she was going to say something, but kept quiet. She finally got to her feet, "I guess I should get back to the twins. It's weird, you know? I don’t feel like going on anymore. It's too hard without Rhonin."

Sylvanas frowned, "You need to give it some time."

"You died, what, thirteen years ago? Faith still isn't over that, are you, Faith?"

"Some days are easier than others," admitted Faith. "It'll never be okay that he's gone, Vereesa. But it will get better, little by little. And like Sylvanas said, you have your children to live for. They need you."

Vereesa left shortly after, still seeming very conflicted. Sylvanas remained sitting where she was for a while, keeping Faith on her lap. She looked worried.

"She's not doing well," said Faith quietly. "I always thought of her as strong: she lost everyone, including you, but she still managed to go on. But this…"

"Losing Rhonin almost broke her. She's hanging on by a thread."

"Can we do anything for her?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "We can try, but if she gives up, it'll be hard to pull her back." She kissed Faith's neck, nibbling the skin there gently. Faith responded to her, arching her back in pleasure. "Mmm. I love it when you respond to me."

"I always respond to you," whispered Faith.

"Exactly." She gave Faith's neck one last nibble before slowly getting to her feet, gently tipping her to the ground. Taking her hand, she began to walk towards what was left of Windrunner Spire.

The warm atmosphere that had reigned there was gone. Blood had dried on the walls, which had always been a shimmering white, dotted here and there with paintings that had been torn apart. The delicate bannister that lounged the ramp to the top floors had likewise been damaged and was now rusty and crumbling in places.

Large webs shone in the pale light coming from outside. In one corner, they saw a severed spider leg, which made Faith shudder.

Sylvanas suddenly chuckled.

"What?" asked Faith in a low voice.

"I remember you coming down the ramp once. I swear my heart stopped when I saw you. I had just seen you a few minutes beforehand, but for some reason, the sight of you coming down into the living room… I could barely breathe."

Faith gave Sylvanas a small smile, "When was that?"

"I don't really remember what day it was – sometimes my living memories blend together. But you were wearing that pale gray dress you used to like? You know, the one with the long row of black buttons on the side?"

Faith's smile widened, "I haven't thought about that dress in decades. That must have been nearly thirty years ago." She remembered the dress now. It had been velvety-soft, which was why she had worn it so often. And the buttons had been shaped like tiny black rose buds, with little glass hearts at their center.

"The dress clung to your body, almost as though it had been made of wet cloth. And the cut was low. I could just see…" Sylvanas' voice trailed off and her eyes closed.

"Are you turned on by an old memory of me in a low-cut dress?"

"Be quiet, I'm undressing you."

Faith chortled. "You do realize that you can actually undress me right here?"

"Shh… I almost got it."

Taking a step forward, Faith pressed her body to Sylvanas', her tongue parting her lips easily. Sylvanas made a sound of surprise, immediately wrapping her arms around her and kissing her back.

"Oh… Faith. What was that for?"

"I wanted to make some memories of my own."

"I like the way you think."

Together, they made their way to where Sylvanas' room had been.

It had been completely ransacked. The blue curtains that had hung at the windows lay on the dirty ground, torn to shreds. More than one something had died in there, judging by the tracks on the carpet, and the bed had been gutted.

Faith went to the large wardrobe that took up an entire wall. She opened it and screamed, leaping backwards.

A body was inside, its flesh hanging from exposed bone in horrible layers. Faith saw that, in life, the thing had been an elf, but it was impossible to determine anything else.

"I wasn't aware I had skeletons in my closet…" said Sylvanas, an eyebrow raised.

Suddenly bursting into laughter, Faith covered her mouth, "Oh, that was horrible."

Sylvanas grinned and took her hand again, "I don't think there's anything for us here."

"Just echoes of our past."

A nod, "We weren't together in our past. That came later. And that's what I'm hanging on to, every day." She kissed Faith's temple, "Let's go home."


	7. Chapter 7

The trial went on. One after the other, witnesses from every race came forward in order to give their testimony about the atrocities Garrosh had committed. Some people broke down on the stand. Others looked shocked, just recovering from horrific wounds, as was the case for a young female troll who was just barely out of her teens. Faith recognized the post-traumatic symptoms in most of the speakers.

Throughout it, Garrosh remained indifferent, seemingly not caring about what was going on around him. He had apparently mentioned once, to Prince Anduin, that he didn't fear death itself. What he didn't want was an execution, a death where he would have no chance to fight.

Sylvanas had looked ready to spit fire when she'd heard that. It had taken the longer part of an hour for Faith to calm her down.

They were back at Windrunner Spire, waiting once again for Vereesa. Faith had returned there on her own, merely to get rid of the body in Sylvanas' wardrobe and to use a bit of magic to tidy up the place. She couldn't bear to see it in ruin any longer.

"You know we're never going to live here again, right?" Sylvanas asked her gently, smoothing her hair back and kissing her neck.

Faith closed her eyes, "I know, love. I just don't want this place to fall to ruin completely. It's a part of you. I fell in love with you here." She took Sylvanas' hand and walked a few steps down the beach until they reached a skeletal bush whose leaves had long since stropped growing. "I was hiding right here, and you were riding down the beach."

Sylvanas smiled, having heard the story so many times she could have recited it on her own. "If it means that much to you, I won't stand in your way, but Windrunner Spire is gone, honey. The memories we made here remain in your heart."

"You  _are_  my heart," whispered Faith, so emotional that she could barely get the words out. She looked up at her, and Sylvanas looked back. The kiss they shared was natural, right, their mouths fitting together so perfectly that for a moment, they forgot everything else around them, lost in each other.

"It can't be healthy for two people to kiss as often as you do," came a voice. "How do you have time for anything else?"

Faith chuckled into the kiss, pulling away from Sylvanas to find Vereesa looking at them. "Oh, if only you knew."

"I do know. I saw you more than once at the Temple, not to mention several other times. You're like… glued at the lips or something."

"We have to make up for the years we wanted to be together but were too scared to do anything about it," said Sylvanas.

Vereesa shook her head, "Oh, is  _that_  why you're always making out? You're like teenagers!"

It was Sylvanas' turn to chuckle. "Faith and I are both happy that we didn't spend our teenaged years together. Imagine, if you will, what it would have been like for the two of us if we'd actually grown up together."

"No, no… you would have had sex during your every waking moment, and I don't want to think about that."

"I like that idea," whispered Faith to Sylvanas, who laughed softly.

"Stop it," she said. "I won't be able to turn you off for hours." She grew serious and looked at Vereesa, "What have you found out?"

"I know what meals Garrosh has been getting. It was easier than I thought."

"How so?" wondered Faith.

"Oh, I told the cooks that the boys were interested in pandaren food."

Faith smiled, "You should get them to try some. I don't think they'll eat anything else. Smelling and seeing that food made me wish I was alive again, just to be able to taste it."

Vereesa nodded, "Anyway, they've allowed me access to the kitchens. They make pastries for Garrosh's breakfast."

"That won't do," said Sylvanas in a quiet voice. "We'd have to poison the grain beforehand."

"Poisoned grain," mused Faith. "Taking a leaf out of Ner'zhul's playbook?"

Sylvanas glanced at her, but otherwise ignored her comment. "What else?"

"I think his dinner will be our best bet," said Vereesa. "It varies from day to day. There is rice noodles with fish, some sort of stew, and green curry."

"You're going to have to learn how to make these dishes," Sylvanas told her. "I haven't eaten in so long I wouldn't be able to help with that."

"I'll have to be careful. I noticed that his guards are eating the same thing he does. I'll have to just poison his meal, so that I don't kill the guards as well."

Sylvanas blinked once, "Pardon?"

"I don't want to kill the pandaren guards."

"It matters not who dies as long as Garrosh does."

"Sylvanas," said Faith. "We cannot kill pandaren guards. Think about it for a moment. If we just kill Garrosh, not many people will question it. But if we kill pandaren guards, you can bet that Taran Zhu will personally look into it. And you two would already be the prime suspects in Garrosh's assassination."

"We're not the only ones who want him dead."

Faith chuckled without much humor, "Poison is a woman's weapon. More to the point, it's a Forsaken weapon. Garrosh killed me. He killed Rhonin. Tell me who they're going to suspect if not the two of you?"

"Jaina," said Vereesa. "And she agrees with this plan."

"You told Jaina about this?" asked Sylvanas, alarmed.

"No. But she wants him dead just as much as we do. Faith is right, though. Killing the pandaren guards is a bad idea."

Sylvanas ruminated on this point. Finally, she nodded, forcing herself not to roll her eyes, "All right. You'll have to be stealthy while you're in the kitchens."

"Don't worry. You're not the only one who knows how to sneak around." She looked at Sylvanas, her face betraying a hint of shyness, "I'm glad we are working together, my sister."

"So am I, Little Moon, so am I."

Vereesa made as though to hug Sylvanas, then thought better of it, simply offering a small smile before she left the beach to return to her hippogryph. Faith watched her go for a moment, then turned her head towards Sylvanas again, joining her as she sat on the beach.

"You've missed her."

Sylvanas glanced at her, "What?"

"Vereesa. You've missed her, all these years you've been apart."

"What are you talking about?"

"She's your sister, Sylvanas. Your family." Faith took her hand, "And you've missed her more than you care to admit. You won't even admit it to me, and I thought we were supposed to tell each other everything."

"Not everything… I have to keep some secrets from you, don't I? You keep some from me to keep me interested."

"Maybe, but not those kinds of secrets. It's okay to miss her, you know. It's okay that you want to have her with you again. She's your sister," repeated Faith. "I would give almost anything to have my siblings with me again."

"You have Taegan."

"As a shade. That's not the same, and I haven't seen him in a while, actually. Where's he been roaming?"

"Around Tirisfal Glades, I think. He only comes into the Undercity when you're around, and even then, he doesn't show himself."

"Why ever not?"

"He knows how much pain it causes you when you see him like that, because it reminds you of what happened."

"I'm reminded of what happened every time I look at you, Sylvanas. Seeing Taegan won't change that or make things worse."

"It's how he feels, baby," said Sylvanas gently.

"It's not really relevant to our conversation. Why are you afraid to admit that you miss Vereesa? That you miss Alleria? And Lirath?"

Sylvanas' gaze hardened, and she suddenly got to her feet, "Is that what you think? That I'm afraid to admit to something? I'm not afraid to revisit the past, but I don't believe in us trying to recreate it."

"Sylvanas –."

"No. I know you want me alive, Faith, and there are days when I would give up my very life if it could bring you back your own. But you and I didn't exist together back then. We were apart. We only kissed once, and that was the day I died."

"I know that."

"Good. Because, I don't know about you, but I really don't want to go back to a time when you and I needed each other so badly we nearly exploded from it."

Getting up as well, Faith brushed sand from her legs and went to wrap her arms around her lover. "Was it more exciting for you? Wanting me but not being able to have me?"

"Sexually, you mean? Sometimes, yes. But mostly, seeing you made me want to crawl out of my skin." Everything had felt wrong back then, when she'd denied herself the simple pleasure of being with Faith. She turned around, catching Faith unawares and kissing her thoroughly. "I wanted you so badly. And I still do. Every day."

"Every day?" repeated Faith, stunned by Sylvanas' kiss. "Even now?"

"Especially now." She pulled her girl closer, "You consume my every waking moment."

"You don't sleep…" remarked Faith, her eyes flicking down to Sylvanas' lips.

"Therein lies the problem. If I weren't so busy with Undercity matters, I think I'd do little else than be with you in every possible way."

Faith smiled, intertwining her fingers with her lover's, "Let's go home. You can tell me exactly how that problem came to be."

A soft laugh, "All right."

* * *

"We're late," grumbled Sylvanas.

"You're the one who wanted to make love on the roofs of Lordaeron," said Faith, trying not to laugh.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," said Sylvanas, embarrassed by the way she had reacted when she and Faith had made love. "I didn't expect things to get so… heated."

This time, Faith did laugh, burying her face in Sylvanas' shoulder. "You didn't expect things to get heated between us, when we sometimes have trouble keeping our hands off each other?"

"Be quiet." Sylvanas' voice was harsher than she'd intended it to be. After all, Faith had done exactly as she'd asked, and then some. "You know I hate losing control like that."

Faith shook her head, still smiling, "Love, you may have failed to notice that hardly anybody hears you when you're with me. And those who do really don't care. You're their queen, and you're taking pleasure from your lover." She kissed the back of Sylvanas' ear, "It's nothing to be ashamed about."

Sylvanas didn't answer, but remained tense. As incredible as it seemed, she felt as though she needed Faith again. She had come twice earlier, her muscles quivering wetly around Faith's fingers. She had nearly shrieked out her release, barely managing to keep it in, but still releasing some kind of strangled sob. Her body had convulsed. A tear had trickled down her cheek as she'd come down from that otherworldly climax.  Heat still raged within her at the thought.

"Are you okay?" whispered Faith as Ivory glided leisurely over the Dead Scar.

"Fine," snapped Sylvanas.

Faith blinked, a little hurt by Sylvanas' brusque response. She said nothing else, leaning back into the saddle until the two of them no longer touched. Sylvanas didn't seem to notice, merely guiding Ivory towards the beach, where they could see a lone figure pacing on the sand.

"There you are," said Vereesa as they touched down. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

"Sorry about that," Sylvanas told her, hugging her quickly. "We got momentarily sidetracked."

Faith moved away from them, walking down the beach a little.

_Going somewhere?_

Not answering, Faith moved further away until she reached the outskirts of Windrunner Village. It was empty, but Faith could see the remnants of webbing that indicated that spiders or nerubians had been there. She touched one of the webs.

It was fresh, and the way it was cold to the touch told her that it wasn't ordinary spider webbing. She pulled out her spellblade, which glowed like fire in the gloom.

The attack came from her left. The nerubian was young, and very strong. Taller than her by several inches, it pounced. Faith gave a cry that resonated throughout the woods, and leapt out of way, casting a spell as she did so.

The Nerubian countered her spell with magic of its own, and advanced on her, scuttling on its many legs.

An arrow flew through the air, hitting the creature in the eye. Howling in pain, it receded for an instant, turning its body towards the new threat.

Sylvanas and Vereesa burst into the village. Neither of them had time to say anything as the nerubian attacked again, trying to go for Sylvanas. But Faith got there first, taking a running leap and landing on its back. Burying her spellblade in one of its shoulders, she called forth her black fire, which immediately began to consume it. It collapsed, and Faith deftly somersaulted through the air, landing in front of Sylvanas, who simply stared at her.

"Are you all right?" Vereesa asked her.

"Just fine, thank you. It took me by surprise, that's all."

"I didn't think there were any of those things still left around here," said Sylvanas. "I wonder where it came from."

Faith shrugged, "Nerubians probably laid their eggs all over the place. This one might have been a couple of years old, but I don't think it was under the command of the Scourge. Maybe I just startled it."

"Scourge or not, we can't let the village become a haven for nerubians," said Vereesa.

"We'll ask Tranquillen to send a patrol here to check things out," promised Sylvanas. She put an arm around Faith, "This is why I don't like you wandering away from me."

Faith looked at her, orange eyes wide, "Are you done being mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you. You'd know if I were mad at you. Come on."

Slowly, they walked back towards Windrunner Spire. Sylvanas bent down to pick up a dark red flower that was growing just at the shoreline where the sand met the grass. Nightblood it was called, and tended to flower where a lot of bloodshed had taken place. Its petals were velvety smooth and came from its black center in nine spikes. Stopping for a moment, she threaded the flower in Faith's hair before kissing her gently.

Faith looked at her, "Apology accepted," she said softly.

"Were you two fighting?" wondered Vereesa.

"No," said Sylvanas. "I was fighting. Faith was just reacting to the fact that I was a bitch."

"You're not a bitch," said Faith in a low voice.

"Yes I am. Not to you, usually."

Faith shook her head and looked at Vereesa, "Do you have anything new?"

"Before we heard you scream, I told Sylvanas that I had learned how to make green curry. I tried it at home, and it's actually quite good. The boys liked it."

"She also said that we don't necessarily need to poison the curry itself, just the fruit that comes with it," said Sylvanas, quickly explaining what she and Vereesa had talked about. "It's brilliant."

"We'll be able to execute the plan soon… even if Jaina seems to have had a change of heart."

"You must keep her heart dark, Sister," said Sylvanas. "We can't afford to have anybody against us when we do this."

"I'll work on her…" she said. She sat down, picking more Nightblood that grew at the base of the Spire, "Sylvanas?"

"Yes?"

"Do you…" Vereesa swallowed. "Do you think I could come live with you?"

"Live with us?" asked Sylvanas, sounding perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"I…" she thought for a moment. "I don't have a lot left in the Alliance. There's no point in staying there." She looked up at Sylvanas, "We were family once. We can be family again, the two of us."

Sylvanas looked at her silently, not knowing what to say. She glanced at Faith.

"You're family too, Faith," Vereesa told her. "Even if you're not married to my stubborn sister, you carry the Windrunner name in your heart."

"She's right, you know," said Sylvanas, wishing she had been the one to utter that statement.

Faith nodded, not knowing what to say. All she could do was lean against her lover, feeling too many things that she couldn't put into words. Sylvanas scratched her back lightly before looking back at Vereesa.

"You want to live with us? In Undercity?"

Vereesa nodded, "I miss you."

"I've missed you too, Sister…" Sylvanas' voice shook for the briefest of moments causing Faith to place a soft kiss on her cheek.

"So, what do you say?"

Sylvanas didn't know what to think. Vereesa wanted to come live in Undercity with her and Faith? It didn't make sense… and yet it did.

"What about the Alliance?" Faith asked her.

"They don't understand…"

Faith made to protest, but Sylvanas gave her a gentle mental nudge. She cleared her throat, "If you want to come live in Undercity, I see no objections. I love you like my own sister, Vereesa."

Sylvanas smiled, "I think you know how I feel, Little Moon."

Vereesa smiled back at her sister, "I guess I'll be able to move in after the trial, if that's all right."

"That would be fine," Sylvanas told her. She took a few steps and embraced her sister.

"I love you, Sylvanas."

Oh… nobody but Faith had told her that since she had died. She felt her heart opening to her sister, loving her more at that moment than she thought she ever had in life.

* * *

"The court recognizes Lady Jaina Proudmoore."

Faith felt herself tensing as she watched Jaina taking a seat on the witness chair. She knew what they would see, and she was in no mood for it. Her eyes sought out Sylvanas, and she found her queen looking at her intently.

_We can leave if you want to._

She shook her head. No, she wouldn't leave the trial now. She had already relived her death, and she had managed it, so she knew she'd be able to sit through this. She just wished that Sylvanas were sitting close to her. She wanted –  _needed_ _–_ to touch her.

It was brutal, listening to Tyrande questioning Jaina on what had happened in Theramore. But what was worse was seeing exactly  _how_  things had unfolded, how Rhonin had sacrificed his life to save as many people as he could.

Feeling sick, she tried to look away as, in the vision, Jaina touched her apprentice, Kinndy Sparkshine, who had been turned into a mass of violet dust by the mana bomb. Vision Jaina screamed as Kinndy disintegrated before her. Faith winced, focusing her thoughts on Sylvanas' voice in her mind.

_It's going to be okay._


	8. Chapter 8

Would it ever be okay? Faith couldn't be sure, despite the fact that Sylvanas seemed confident. There had been so much death, so much destruction since these faraway days in Quel'Thalas.

"I just don't know how much more of this I can take," she said to herself when court adjourned for the day and she found herself alone under a blossoming cherry tree.

Sylvanas joined her. "Faith," she said in a low voice, placing a hand on her back.

Trying to put on a brave face, Faith smiled at her, "There you are."

"There I am. Ready to go?"

A nod, "Home?"

Sylvanas held up a note, "When's the last time you took Winter out for a ride?"

A few minutes later, the two of them found themselves at the Undercity stables. Venom and Winter greeted them with neighs and nuzzles, Winter going so far as to nip the sleeve of Faith's tunic. Faith spoke quietly to him, stroking his bony head. The creature cocked his head to the side before pushing gently against her hand, enjoying the attention.

"How come you never stroke  _me_  like that?" asked Sylvanas, watching her.

Faith chuckled, "Because you don't have the patience for it. Don't think that I don't want to be petting you all the time, Sylvanas. I do. The more I touch you, the happier I am."

"Oh, honestly…"

"What? You asked me a question, and I answered."

Sylvanas shook her head, and said in a near-undertone, "You don't look at me the way you look at Winter."

Biting her lip to keep from laughing, Faith walked to Sylvanas and raised her hands to her face. Her fingers skimmed her jaw, caressing her cheek. Reaching her ears, Faith lightly ran her hands over them, smiling when they twitched.

Taking one step towards Faith, Sylvanas kissed her, wrapping her arms around her. For a moment, neither of them stopped, caught up in their embrace.

After a minute, Faith broke the kiss, her eyes seeking out her lover's. It still amazed her the way she and Sylvanas loved each other after all those years.

"You still want Vereesa to move in with us?"

Faith nodded, "She can have my old room."

"We may not have many occasions to be alone with her around."

"That'll make our time together all the better, won't it?"

A real smile lit Sylvanas' face, "You think?" She kissed Faith again, "I love you."

"I love you, Sylvanas."

It was some time before they started to ride, Sylvanas taking an extra skeletal horse for Vereesa, who was meeting them at Brightwater Lake.

"Won't she be uncomfortable, trying to ride her?" asked Faith, glancing over at the horse, a mare whose coat had been chocolate brown in life.

Sylvanas shrugged, "She'll get used to her. She won't mind once she's settled with us, anyway."

"Once she's settled?"

Not answering her question, Sylvanas urged Venom on.

Faith stopped her horse, "Sylvanas, what are you planning?" All she got for an answer was Sylvanas moving further away from her, and she started moving again, catching up. "Sylvanas?"

"Do you trust me?"

"You know I trust you… why are you asking me that?"

Sylvanas took a while to answer, slowing Venom to a walk. Finally, she spoke, "Because in order for Vereesa to live with us, in order for her to  _rule_  with us, a couple of things are going to have to happen."

"What things?" A cold fear came over her, one she wasn't used to feeling in Sylvanas' presence.

"You know what, or you wouldn't be staring at me like that."

Faith blinked once, "Sylvanas Windrunner, I know that you're not suggesting… You cannot! How can you even think about doing something like that?"

"There's no choice, not if she comes here to rule with the two of us."

"No  _choice_?" Faith's voice was so loud that the horses tossed their heads in alarm. "Of course there's a choice! I was alive when I first came here!"

"You came here as part of the Horde delegation, and you were loyal to me from the start. Vereesa is Alliance, there's no way anybody will accept her."

"She bears the Windrunner name! She's your sister! You're the queen, Sylvanas, you  _make_  them accept her, or don't have her come at all."

"It's not going to happen, Faith. You think that everyone accepted you when you elected to stay? When you became my lover? Not everyone accepted this. They knew better than to be vocal, and you had the support of most of the population, but there were several people who would have happily killed you."

"That's the first I've heard of this."

"Well of course it is," said Sylvanas impatiently. "I neutralized the threats as soon as they surfaced."

Faith digested this, trying to keep her emotions under control, "You can't do this. Living people are accepted in Undercity all the time."

"Regular people, sure. Members of the Horde. But if those people suddenly decided to rule Undercity? I can guarantee you there would be a riot."

"You  _cannot_  kill and raise her! You can't, Sylvanas!"

"Do not tell me what I can and cannot do, Faith."

"You are thinking of killing and raising your sister. Sylvanas,  _think_  for a second! I  _died_  because I refused to kill her! Have you forgotten that? Are you going to invalidate what I did?"

Sylvanas looked at her carefully, pressing her lips together to stop her chin trembling, "Not a day goes by that I don't think about what happened to you. What do you think I'm planning all of this with Vereesa for?" She reached out for her, but Faith moved Winter away.

"She has no idea what you're planning, does she?" Faith shook her head sadly, "I will follow you to whatever end, Sylvanas, but I cannot follow you in this. If you decide to kill and raise your sister, who is now a single parent to two beautiful children, I will not forgive you."

"I need my sister with me, Faith." Sylvanas tone was very nearly pleading.

"You think that I don't understand that? I know you love Vereesa and that you miss Alleria. I know this. But Sylvanas, what you're talking about… I can't condone it. So if you go through with it, you'll go through it alone, without me." She turned Winter around and kicked him into a gallop, riding away from Sylvanas, feeling horrible.

Flashes of her resurrection invaded her mind. She felt the pain that had laced her body when Sylvanas had raised her. Felt the anger and bewilderment she had felt then. The incomparable sadness…

She began chanting the spell for a portal before she had even consciously formed the thought to go back to Pandaria to wait for Vereesa. She wanted to warn her of what was coming.

Sylvanas would see it as treason.

 _Oh, Sylvanas_ _…_ _please don't make me do this_ _…_ _I beg you._

* * *

The Royal Quarter was quiet. Sylvanas quickly walked through it, looking for Faith but not finding her. Bracing herself, she walked into their quarters, fully expecting not to see her beloved there. She stopped in her tracks.

Faith was on the bed, sitting up against the headboard, waiting for her.

"I didn't expect to find you here," said Sylvanas in a low voice.

"I almost went back to Pandaria to wait for Vereesa." Faith didn't sound happy. As a matter of fact, she sounded as angry as Sylvanas had ever heard her. "She should know what you're planning to do to her so that she can make an informed decision about what she wants to do."

Sylvanas looked at her, heart twisting at the thought that Faith had nearly betrayed her. "I'm sure it wasn't easy for you to consider that." She sat on the edge of the bed, not quite touching Faith's foot.

"It wasn't, but I haven't made my final decision yet."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I want to have all the facts before I decide what I'm going to do. So you're going to tell me exactly what's going through your mind right now."

"I already told you. The Forsaken won't accept Vereesa as a leader if she's alive. She's too much Alliance."

"Are you forgetting the fact that they went to Scholomance to save the twins?"

"Only because I went with you. Had I asked them to go for the sake of going, I don't think they would have obeyed."

"Aren't you even going to give them a chance?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "Look, I know them. I understand that it's difficult for you to come to terms with the fact that they won't accept a living leader, but it's just the way things are. Yes, they accepted you while you were alive, for the most part, but they will not, under any circumstance, allow Vereesa to live if she settles here. You have to believe me when I say that." Reaching out, she put her hand on Faith's calf.

Faith looked down at Sylvanas' hand, "You're willing to sacrifice your sister's life so as not to be alone anymore?" Her eyes found hers, "I'm not enough for you anymore?"

"Oh, by the Sun, Faith, don't say that. I love you, you know I love you. But… she's my sister. I'd never considered having her here until she suggested it. I didn't realize until then just how much I'd missed her."

"What about the twins?"

Sylvanas hesitated, looking away from Faith. "She wanted to bring them here."

" _What_?"

"I talked her out of it. Living or dead, they would hate being here. There are no children in Undercity, and they'd have nobody their age to play with."

"If you were to even consider killing them, Sylvanas, I really would leave you for good…"

"I know." She did. That was one line that Faith would never allow her to cross, no matter what.

Faith moved, getting to her feet.

"What are you going to do?"

"You need to tell Vereesa what you're planning for her. You have to, Sylvanas. You can't just let her think that she's just going to move here, and that'll be that. Not if you're planning on killing and raising her." She shook her head. "Killing and raising her… You know, people were stunned when you did it to me."

"I didn't kill you, Faith," said Sylvanas quickly. "I would have never… I didn't even plan to… I didn't know I was going to raise you until it was done."

Faith nodded, "But this. This is something you're calculating. It's different."

"What would you like me to do? She'll never kill herself, not even to be with me."

"And there's your answer, Sylvanas. I don't think many people in their right minds would choose undeath over life." She looked squarely at the queen, "I just want you to really think about what you're going to force Vereesa to give up. A life in the sun. Her children. Living in general. You're asking her to die for you."

"Is that so wrong?"

"Would you die for her, if the situation were reversed? Would you give everything up after you've worked so hard for it?"

"I would."

"Even if it meant never seeing me again?"

"Never seeing… what are you talking about?"

Faith began to laugh, "If Vereesa asked you to join her in death, and if it meant leaving me and never seeing me again, would you do it?"

"Why would she ask me to never see you again?"

"Why are you asking her to give up her children? They're her one link to Rhonin. She loves them more than anything else in the world. She's just caught up in her grief right now." Faith walked to her and kissed her, "I love you."

Sylvanas blinked once, "I love you too."

"Good. Then listen to me when I tell you that you need to talk to Vereesa. Please, my love."

"Okay," she said. She sounded uncertain, and Faith knew that she wouldn't say anything to her. "You don't want me to do this."

"Let's just say that I don't enjoy being made to feel like my death was in vain."

Pulling her down on her lap, Sylvanas rubbed her back, "That's not the same. You know that, right? Beside, Garrosh was just looking for an excuse to kill you."

"And you doing this to Vereesa without her knowledge or consent is going to give plenty of people additional excuses to come after you, Sylvanas. I don't want you dead."

"I won't die," she kissed her. "I promise."

* * *

The Temple of the White Tiger was oddly still as everyone gathered again for what was known to be the last day of Garrosh's trial.

All of the witnesses had come forward and given their testimony. Most of the spectators looked greedy, anticipating a verdict.

"We will now hear the closing statements from the Accuser and the Defender. Once that has been done, we will take a break for the jury to deliberate, after which we will reconvene this afternoon."

Faith's eyes cut to Sylvanas. It was subtle, but the Banshee Queen was agitated by this piece of news. She had thought, like the rest of them, that the verdict wouldn't happen until later that evening. Suddenly, she seemed to calm down.

 _It's okay_ , she said in Faith's mind.  _Vereesa has the poison._

Faith gave an imperceptible nod and turned her attention to Tyrande, who began to speak in her usual way, reiterating Garrosh's crimes for all to hear. She had been brutal with the witnesses, for the most part, and Faith had little love for her, but she had to respect her methods. She had certainly been efficient.

Then again, so had Baine. Baine had, perhaps, been a little  _too_  efficient in his defense of Garrosh. As he spoke, she noted tones of forgiveness in his voice. She knew he had talked to the spirits. Had they told him to forgive Garrosh for what he had done?

Most people seemed to be as confused as she felt when Taran Zhu adjourned court for the morning. She heard people whispering. Garrosh had killed Baine's own father. How could Baine even think about pardoning such a crime?

"He's a better person than I am, I can tell you that," said Faith to Lor'themar. "I haven't forgiven Garrosh for what he's done."

"I don't think most people have," he told her. "Speaking of most people, where's your lover?"

Faith nodded towards the entrance to the temple where Sylvanas was watching her. To the unobservant person, she appeared bored. But Faith could see small muscles twitching at the corner of her right eye. It had seldom happened when she'd been alive, and was even less apt to happen now that she was dead.

Sylvanas was worried.

She walked towards Faith, leaning close to her once she reached her, "Are you coming home with me for a bit, love?"

Faith nodded, putting an arm around her.

They got home to find the city in shambles. People were running around, seemingly panicked. Cries echoed throughout the corridors, making Sylvanas frown the second they arrived.

"What in the world is going on here?" she asked a passing guard.

"Lady Sylvanas!" the guard bowed low to her and Faith. "Glad we are that you're here. It's the bats. They're sick, most of them."

"Sick?" asked Faith, her eyebrows arching. "With what, rabies?"

"No, it seems to be the Plague."

"Of Undeath?" screamed Faith, her voice bouncing off the walls. "How is that even possible?"

"From what we've come to understand, one of the bats found a small pocket of it somewhere near the Plaguelands, and brought it back here. A lot of our bats have been infected, and we've had to euthanize them. I understand that your bat Ivory is doing all right and so are the other bats in her roost."

Sylvanas shook her head, "You would present us with one hell of a problem today, wouldn't you?"

"Do we have time to look into this before we go back to court?" Faith asked her.

"Not if we have to check out all of Lordaeron to see where that pocket of Plague is."

Faith pursed her lips for a second, "We have to do something. How did they get this sick so fast?"

"Are you forgetting how quickly the Plague spreads?" Sylvanas asked her. She made her way towards the bat roosts in the bowels of the city.

The guard hadn't exaggerated the magnitude of the problem. They smelled the Plague before they saw it, sickly sweet and intermixed with the powerful stench of rot, it was a different scent than the one that usually permeated Undercity, and it was unmistakable.

"This is exactly what we needed," muttered Faith. "How many bats so far?"

"About thirty," said Rotvine, meeting them at the main roost. In his arms, he carried a young bat who was feebly stirring, but who was very obviously sick. "This little guy makes thirty-one."

Sylvanas cursed softly under her breath, "All this in one morning, though?"

"That we noticed. They've probably been sick for a couple of days, and whatever they've caught is particularly virulent."

Faith shook her head, "I'm going to go to the Cenarion Circle and see whether they know anything. They've been cleansing the Plaguelands with the Argent Crusade, so maybe they can figure out what happened. It could be something as banal as one of the bats ingesting a plagued mushroom."

"It would have had to go all the way to the Plaguewood for that," said Sylvanas. "It's unlikely that it would have made it back before dying. But it could have grabbed an animal infected that way."

"I thought the Plaguewood had been scoured?" asked Rotvine.

"The Western Plaguelands are almost entirely free of the old plague," Faith told him. "And I think that most of the Eastern Plaguelands have been cleansed, but there are still pockets of plague around Stratholme. I haven't been there in a while, though, so I can't be sure."

"I'd rather you didn't go all the way over there to investigate, Faith," said Sylvanas to her.

"I won't go to Stratholme. I'll go to the Mender's Stead and talk to the druids. Maybe they've heard something. I'll pass by Hearthglen on my way back." She kissed Sylvanas' cheek, glad to have something to do that didn't involve Garrosh. "See you in a bit."

The druids at the Mender's Stead weren't surprised to see her. She learned that there had been several sick animals around the area, all stemming from a small infection that had happened near the Thondoril River.

"We're not exactly sure how it happened, but we are working with the Argent Crusade to take care of things, so you shouldn't worry."

Faith smiled grimly, "In the meantime, our bats are dying off, and we actually need them. I hope they didn't infect more of the wildlife." She thanked the druids for their time, after which she went back to Undercity, to find Sylvanas talking to several agitated bat handlers.

"You go back to court without me, love," she said. "I'll join you in just a few minutes."

"Are you sure? We don't start for another half hour" said Faith. "I don't mind waiting for you."

Sylvanas shook her head, "No, go. You'll want to talk to Lor'themar about this too, just in case."

She watched her go, noticing at the same time that another portal was opening to allow a pandaren messenger to come into the throne room.


	9. Chapter 9

" _Faith,_

_I'm so sorry. Truly, I am. I know that Sylvanas won't understand, but maybe you will. Maybe you will know why I couldn't go through with it._

_I couldn't kill Garrosh. I realized that you were right. I don't want to be branded as a killer, and I know that it won't bring Rhonin back to me._

_Also_ _…_ _I_ _…_

_Oh, Faith, I miss Sylvanas. Spending this time with her was like the old days when we used to be together. But I can't move to Undercity. You understand that, don't you? I can't leave the children. They're a part of me. They're a part of Rhonin, and they need me. Faith, I'm sorry. I hope you can get Sylvanas to understand why I can't join you. She's going to be upset, but I can't abandon the boys. I hope you won't hate me for making this decision."_

Faith read the note in her hand twice in quick succession. The pandaren messenger had handed her the scroll as soon as she had returned, and Faith had gone to a secluded corner to read it.

Of course she understood Vereesa's choice to stay with her children. But her heart ached for Sylvanas. Sylvanas, who had been looking so worried. She'd wanted her sister to join them in Undercity. The hope in her eyes had been unmistakable.

Faith listened for her. But for once, Sylvanas had shut herself off and wasn't letting her into her mind. Worried, she turned away from the temple, meaning to go to her.

"There you are, Faith," said Lor'themar, walking towards her.

"Lor'themar," she said, crushing the note in her hand and incinerating it. Quickly, she told him of the Plague making its way through the Lordaeron animals again. "You may want to warn people at the Thalassian Pass in case some of the creatures get through."

"I'll send a messenger to them right away," he said. "Thank you, Faith. Although if the Cenarion Circle thinks there is nothing to worry about, I don't see why we should bother."

Faith didn't smile, "Just one infection has taken out half of our roosting bats. We're lucky we have a hundred bats currently stationed in Pandaria, or the Undercity air forces would be in trouble."

"Well, with any luck, we won't be needing to deploy any more forces for quite some time. I'm a little tired of war."

"A little tired," repeated Faith. "Yes, I find myself a little tired of war too. All I want is to live quietly with my beloved, is that too much to ask?"

Lor'themar laughed, "I'm not sure you and Sylvanas could have lived quietly, even when the two of you were alive. Is she still in Undercity?"

"Well, she's not here, so…"

"Isn't she interested in finding out what verdict the Celestial Court has rendered?"

Faith looked at him, "I think that she's figured out that they're not going to sentence him to death, and that's the only thing she cares about, to be honest. She doesn't want him living to a venerable age, she wants him to rot in the ground, preferably with one of her arrows lodged in his skull."

"Baine did his job well. A little too well, according to those of us who have lost people we loved because of him. But you can't really fault him for it."

"He lost his father, not to mention dozens of others when Magatha tried to take over. He didn't kill her, and it was her direct involvement that hurt him the most. He didn't execute her when he became chieftain, so part of me was pretty sure he wouldn't want to have Garrosh executed."

Lor'themar gently took her hand, "You don't feel like he betrayed you?"

"Baine? Of course not. He did what he thought was right."  _And so did Vereesa. And now, we must do so as well._

She wanted to go home to see Sylvanas. She didn't like not being able to connect to her. She looked up, realizing that Lor'themar had spoken to her.

"Pardon?"

He smiled, "Are you coming in? I'm sure Sylvanas will want you to tell her how things went once you get home."

A chuckle, "I don't relish having to have that conversation with her. 'Sorry, love, Garrosh won't be dying anytime soon. Instead, he'll be taken care of by the pandaren, who will give him three delicious meals a day and will make sure he's as comfortable as possible'. I'm sure she'll love to hear that."

They walked into the temple, where almost everyone was seated. Vereesa wasn't there, but Faith hadn't expected her to be. She took her seat, surprised when Hamu sat down with her.

"You shouldn't be alone for the verdict," he told her, taking her hand in his. "Where's Sylvanas?"

"Home. We had a bit of a crisis." She stopped speaking and looked around as one of the doors to the temple opened.

* * *

Sylvanas sat in her office, utterly still. Her face was a mask of shock, her red eyes wide and dull, barely glowing.

Betrayal.

In her hand, she crushed a piece of parchment on which her sister's careful handwriting mentioned that she hadn't been able to kill Garrosh. That she was going back to Dalaran to be with her sons. That she wouldn't be coming to Undercity.

_Faith_ _…_ _did you tell her?_ _Did you betray me?_

She felt like she were crumbling inside. The mere thought of Faith betraying her was enough to make her want to die.

_You wouldn't, would you?_ _Baby?_ _You wouldn_ _'_ _t really betray me?_

She screamed, suddenly and piercingly, shaking the very walls of the office. Outside the room, guards looked at each other, worried, not knowing what could possibly make Sylvanas scream in such an agonized way.

She got up and overturned her desk in her anger, shattering everything inside. Picking up her chair, she slammed it against the wall once, twice, still screaming. Not satisfied in the least, she ran out of her office, the look on her face so terrifying that everyone got out of her way, fast.

* * *

The people in the temple quieted down as the August Celestials filed into the room, along with Taran Zhu. They all looked grave and stern, somehow managing to make several emotions coexist on their faces.

 _They really won't sentence him to death_ , thought Faith, not taking her eyes off them. She found that she hated the idea of Garrosh living when he had robbed  _her_  of her own life.

Everyone sat down, and Faith watched as Niuzao stayed standing. "We all know that this has been a difficult trial for most of you," he began. "All of you here have had to see atrocities that pertained to the case. Some of you have had to relive horrible things more than once. We want you to know that we took all of this into consideration as we made our decision."

People began to murmur, some of them guessing what was about to take place. Faith looked at Garrosh, finding him with an amused expression on his face. Glancing at Varian, she saw the complete opposite look in his eyes. He seemed filled with anger.

Niuzao sat down, and Xuen got to his feet, "Both the Defender and the Accuser made powerful statements during this trial. They have shown us visions to bolster their cases, and we have heard your testimonies, taking them all to heart. All of you, who have been through terrible ordeals, still have managed to lead good lives, for the most part, and while we know that all of you have done things that you regret, we are aware that you feel regret for your actions."

Chi-Ji spoke next, "Since we know that everyone can make mistakes and can later live to regret them, it is incumbent upon us to believe that the same can be said for Garrosh Hellscream, former warchief of the Horde. We cannot sentence him to death, knowing that there is a chance he could change."

 _A chance he could change?_  Faith stared at Chi-Ji, stunned. Garrosh wasn't going to change. He was proud to have done what he had, and, given the chance, she knew that he would gladly do things over again.

She wasn't the only one thinking along those lines. The temple had suddenly filled with angry voices, people unable to process the fact that Garrosh wouldn't be paying for his crimes in the way he deserved.

Next to her, Hamu was shaking with anger, his eyes filled with a black fury. "I don't believe it," he hissed. "He killed so many people, he killed you, and… nothing?"

Faith put a hand on his knee, squeezing gently. She had nothing to say.

"He should die," he continued.

Taran Zu hammered the table to restore order, "Enough!" He got to his feet, glaring at everyone, looking fierce enough to make most people quiet down.

"Garrosh Hellscream will spend the rest of his life in prison," said Xuen. "Or until such a time as he is no longer a threat to the rest of Azeroth. I cannot think of a more appropriate punishment for a warrior than to remain inactive for decades."

Faith shook her head, wanting again to go home. To see Sylvanas. She tried reaching out to her and felt a brief sliver of tremendous emotional turmoil before their connection severed.

"Something's wrong with Sylvanas," she said in a soft voice to Hamu. "I have to go to her."

But Garrosh, having been given the opportunity to speak, was on his feet. Amazingly, he was smiling.

"This was indeed as entertaining as the Darkmoon Faire," he stated, sounding highly amused. "A farce of the greatest kind!" He chuckled, "You think you are going to imprison me for decades?!"

Everyone jumped as a blow shook the temple doors. On the floor, Garrosh began to laugh as Kairoz moved swiftly towards the hourglass that still stood on the table between the Defender and Accuser.

Faith got to her feet, as did Jaina, Varian, and Thrall, but several things happened in quick succession.

Kairoz screamed something in Draconic. The doors to the temple crashed open, and several pandaren monks staggered in, one with a gaping wound to his face.

"Take down the magic barrier!" cried out Jaina as a monstrous orc leapt into the temple bearing a huge axe with a bloodied blade.

"Blackrock orcs!" hissed Faith, now clearly hearing the sounds of battle outside. She turned her head in time to see Kairoz manipulating the hourglass so that sand spilled from it, beginning to swirl in the air.

The magic-dampening field collapsed, and Faith felt suddenly as though she'd been hit by an arcane force. Magic swirled around her very being. Her fingers crackled with it, and she was about to release it when something slammed against her from behind, knocking her to the floor.

Turning her head, she saw another orc, a female who looked very familiar.

"This is for my cousin Zaela," she snarled, clamping a hand over Faith's mouth. "The one you killed in Orgrimmar."

Having only her magic and no blade, Faith wondered for an instant whether she'd be able to get out of this as the orc swung a mace at her roughly the size and shape of a mastiff.

A particular training session flashed through her mind, one where Sylvanas had precisely put her in that position, unable to call out any spells, but leaving her hands completely free.

Using all the strength that she could muster, Faith grabbed the orc's face, shoving her fingers in her eyes and scratching as hard as she could.

The orc screamed in pain, instantly releasing the hold on her mouth. The second she was free, Faith called forth a bolt of frost, which she aimed at her attacker's face. She didn't wait to see whether it hit as she kicked the orc off herself, getting to her feet.

All around her, a battle raged. She saw Hamu locked in combat with an orc, having managed to get his hands on a spear. Atalo was casting a spell to protect the few people who were unable to fight and who couldn't flee. Faith glimpsed Taisha and Ishaka among them.

She ran towards them, meaning to create a portal to get them out of there, but Taisha cried out a sudden warning.

Faith turned around just in time to see that Kairoz had used the Sands of Time to create a portal of his own, one that churned with black, dark gold, and violet energies.

She stared in disbelief as something crawled out of the portal. Something that looked like a person. After a moment, she recognized who it was. Varian.

But it wasn't the Varian she knew. This Varian looked mean and more dangerous than the High King of the Alliance ever had.

"Get out of the temple!" cried Faith suddenly. "Now! Jaina! Help me make a portal for them!"

"To  _where_?"

"Dalaran! I don't care if the Horde is banished from it, make the portal!"

Jaina glared at her only once before beginning to cast her spell, adding her magic to Faith's. With the two of them working together, the portal was created much faster.

"I'll come over and make you a portal to Thunder Bluff later on. Now go!"

Faith and Jaina only barely managed to keep the portal open long enough to evacuate everyone. Glancing behind them, they saw that more people had appeared through the portal, and that, to her dismay, Garrosh was stepping through it himself.

"No!" she screamed.

She and Jaina ran together, but Kairoz laughed, casting another spell that knocked both of them off their feet, preventing them from reaching Garrosh as he stepped through the time vortex.

The moment she was down, something pounced on her, another orc, slashing with a sword roughly the size of her forearm. She rolled away, but felt pain shooting down the back of her calf.

 _Thank Undercity for my armor_ , she thought distractedly as she got to her feet, her fingers glowing with fire magic.

Time lost all meaning for her. She fought her way out of the temple, getting outside and seeing a battlefield before her eyes. An enormous dragon, bronze and spiked with black, flew around, belching strange fire and killing off pandaren left and right. Varian was fighting himself, a sight so bizarre that, for a second, she stopped and looked.

"Faith!"

She turned to her left, and her insides seemed to liquefy in one stroke.

She saw herself, walking in slow motion towards her. It was almost like looking in a mirror: snow-white hair and skin, glowing orange eyes, even similar armor.

But the resemblance stopped there. This version of herself, which she supposed Kairoz had conjured, had hatred in her eyes. The orange glow was spiked with red and black, making her look terrifying. In her hands, she held a bow, and Faith's mind sideslipped to the last time she had seen Sylvanas alive.

That was her bow. The bow she had wielded when she'd been Ranger-General.

Faith suddenly felt herself being lifted high into the air by a spell. Her alternate self – for that was the only way she could think of it – was using magic on her.

"Where am I?" she screamed, her voice sounding like the opening of a web-lined crypt door. Her teeth, Faith noticed, were inky black. Her black lips cracked and began to drip some horrible ichor that sizzled when it hit the frost on the ground.

Struggling, Faith cast a spell to release herself. Belatedly, she realized that she'd been held aloft over the passage that led down to the temple prison, and as she fell, she had the time to think about how she would shatter her legs if she didn't do something fast.

She never hit the ground. Instead, something seemed to catch her, a strong gust of wind that sent her flying into one of the cherry trees that lined the path below her. She looked up, but couldn't see the shaman who had helped her, although she had an inkling of who it had been.

"Get me  _out_  of here!"

Faith jumped, quickly disentangling herself from the branches she had crashed into and climbing down.

"Is anybody out there?"

"Chromie?" she called.

"Yes!"

The voice was coming from what appeared to be a hole in the summit wall.

Remembering the layout of this particular temple, Faith figured that it was one of the windows from the prison. What was she doing there?

"Where are you?" she called, quickly making her way to where she knew the entrance to be.

"I'm in one of the cells! Kairoz… he put me in here, and I can't transform!"

Faith cursed inwardly as she reached the doors marking the entrance to the cell block carved into the mountain. She barely had time to note that, unlike all the prisons she'd been to, this one was, for lack of a better term, aesthetically pleasing to the eye. There weren't a whole lot of windows, but there were elaborately carved lanterns hanging from the ceiling that gave off a soft orange light. The floor of the prison had been smoothed out and carved with elegant pandaren script.

"By the Light…" she said softly.

Three pandaren guards lay on the floor. One of them, clearly dead, had had her neck snapped. The other two seemed to be bleeding from head wounds, but even from where she was, she could tell that they were breathing. Moving past the dead guard, Faith checked the others to make sure they weren't fatally wounded, then made her way towards the cell Chromie was locked in.

"Chromie, get away from the door!"

"Okay!" came the tiny voice.

Faith cast a series of incineration spells, which melted the locks on the doors after a few moments. Finally, she managed to open the door enough for Chromie to crawl out. The dragon seemed unhurt, save for a large lump on her forehead.

"What happened?"

"Kairoz… he… I noticed that his manipulations of the Vision of Time were weird, and I came to talk to him about it. I don't really know what happened, only that I woke up in the cell. What's going on out there?"

Faith explained as quickly as she could, conjuring a cold cloth for Chromie to put on her forehead, "Do you think you can transform now that you're out of the cell?"

Chromie nodded, following Faith outside. She soon as she was clear of the door, she began to transform, albeit slowly.

"Don't force it, Chromie. If you're hurt…"

"It'll be better for me this way," she said, her voice changing with her appearance. "I'll be able to do more damage. Get on." The great dragon waited for Faith to climb on her back before she took off, her wings beating steadily.

It started to snow.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note** :

Warning: triggers.

Just so that none of you get too confused, there are two Faiths here. Our Faith, and alternate Faith. I make sure to reference her as the alternate, or in some similar way.

* * *

Somewhere in Tirisfal Glades, someone was screaming.

* * *

The battle was intense, seen from the air. Faith and Chromie witnessed combatants, friends and foes alike, fighting to the death. In the air, the former Aspects were battling the orcs of the Dragonmaw Clan on their proto-drakes. To their horror, they saw Faith's alternate self decapitate a pandaren priest with her bare hands.

"Chromie, let me down!" she cried. "I can't let her kill everyone like that!"

Her mind was swirling with questions. Who was this girl? How had she become like that? So full of hatred? And how had she gotten Sylvanas' bow?

"Be careful," said Chromie, landing quickly and allowing her to dismount.

"You too," said Faith. She made her way through the battlefield, which was raging all over the place, until she found the alternate version of herself in one of the pagodas that made up other sections of the temple. Not wasting any time, she sent a spell towards her.

But she saw her coming and deflected her spell so quickly that Faith found herself wanting to gasp in surprise.

"You look like me," said the twisted girl. "But you are not me." She leapt with surprising swiftness, pulling a long dagger from a sheath at her hip. Faith sidestepped it, casting another spell, one that froze the girl's legs, encasing them in ice.

The girl began to laugh, "Is that the best you can do in this world?" she sneered. "Pathetic."

In the back of her mind, Faith knew she should have incinerated this other version of herself immediately. But what if that killed her too? "You don't want to see what I'm capable of, Faith," she said quietly. "Trust me."

Her alternate waved her hand over the ice, which melted immediately. A second later, she'd cast a spell so strong that Faith was lifted off her feet, crashing into one of the supporting pillars of the building. With another spell, she split her armor at the shoulder, before casting again, cutting her deeply. Despite herself, Faith screamed.

"I am going to kill you. And I'm going to do it slowly. Nothing can stop me here."

Faith pushed herself from the pillar and cast her own spell, her fingers glowing blue, then orange as magic wove its way through her. Her first spell missed the mark, deviated, but the second one hit the girl squarely in the stomach, smoldering the armor she was wearing.

There was a scream. A banshee's scream. Her twisted version glared at her and leapt again, this time meaning to sever the head from her shoulders with her blade. Not knowing what else to do, Faith put up both her hands, crying out a spell in ancient Thalassian.

An arcane barrier, glowing violet and blue, suddenly materialized around her. It sizzled as the dagger hit, emitting white sparks. The other Faith cried out in frustration when the weapon fell from her hands, clattering to the floor.

"I  _will_  kill you!" she screamed, lunging herself at the barrier again.

"Why?" asked Faith, not moving an inch and managing to renew her spell to allow the protective field to hold. "What have I done to you?"

Continuing to attack the barrier, finally managing to drive Faith back, she screamed. "Let me  _through_!" She pulled Sylvanas' bow from the holster at her back and prepared to strike.

"No!" cried Faith. In a flash, she released the spell and grabbed the bow. "Don't use Sylvanas' bow, you'll shatter it!"

The girl stopped, her eyes widening. "What?"

"Don't shatter Sylvanas' bow on my account… please, Faith… don't."

Alternate Faith stared at her, looking absolutely stricken. With a lithe grace, she jumped backwards, landing ten feet away and clutching the bow to her chest.

"You… you know Sylvanas?" she asked, her voice sounding shattered all of a sudden.

"Of course I know Sylvanas. How could I not?" Faith put down her arms but kept alert, ready to fight should the need arise. "How did you get her bow?"

"When she… when she died… when the Scourge invaded. She…" giving a sob, Faith's alternate wiped a hand over her mouth. "Arthas took her."

Faith nodded, not saying anything.

"He took her and brought her somewhere… to Windrunner Spire. I went after them with group of rangers led by Alleria. Vereesa was dead, Alleria was the only one left."

Stunned, Faith pressed her lips together to keep from crying out at the thought of Vereesa having been killed in whatever world this version of herself came from.

"Alleria fell at the gates of Windrunner Spire. There were so many members of the Scourge… so many. We couldn't fight them all… they took me."

"They  _took_  you?" Had she fallen in Quel'Thalas at the same time as Sylvanas? Faith's mind reeled.

"I could hear Sylvanas' screams from outside. Arthas was torturing her. When they dragged me to him, three of her fingers were on the floor and her right eye was gone…. Oh, Sylvanas…" her eyes flashed a venomous orange, and Faith thought for a moment that she was going to have to keep battling.

But her alternate self simply took a few steps back, leaning against a column.

"He chained me to the wall and… he did things to me. Horrible things, while Sylvanas watched. She was screaming for me. And when he moved on to her, I screamed for her."

"Stop… I beg you, stop…" Faith felt herself growing almost numb with shock. Whatever she had endured seemed like paradise compared to the hell this girl was describing.

"I don't know how long it went on. Days… maybe weeks. He alternated between beating us and raping us, forcing us to watch as it happened to the other. Finally I…" she gave a cry and fell to her knees, her shoulders shaking. "I killed her. I burned her alive."

Dusty tears fell down Faith's cheeks. She pressed a hand against her mouth, trying to contain the emotions that threatened to consume her.

"When she was dead, Arthas turned on me. He had wanted the two of us together, and I had deprived him of the pleasure of killing Sylvanas himself. He brought me to Northrend, where he gave me to the Lich King. He raised me into this."

"And you've served him this entire time?" Faith asked her.

A nod. "I was a member of the Scourge until Arthas was killed… now… I don't know. Sylvanas is gone… I don't know what to do."

"She's alive. She's alive here, Faith. In this world, is this reality, she's alive."

" _Alive_?"

Faith bit her lip, "Well, she's undead but… yes. She didn't die permanently. She broke free from the Scourge, and I found her again." She staggered, beginning to feel the effects of the blows she had taken to her body during the battle.

"You found her?"

"I was still living then. She died to save me."

Something huge crashed into the pagoda they were in. Part of the roof caved in, forcing them to duck for cover. As Faith glanced around, she saw Chromie collapsing to the ground, one of her wings severely damaged.

"Chromie!"

The bronze dragon gave a great cry of pain, rattling the walls. There was an answering cry as an enormous proto-drake attempted to dive down to her. Faith leapt over debris and cast a spell to shield Chromie from further harm.

Chromie grunted, breathing bronze fire in the sky as the drake tried to come through the roof again.

A few feet away, Faith's alternate self watched them. She looked conflicted as she saw the two of them fighting off the proto-drake and the orc riding it. One of Faith's spells hit the creature, who toppled off his mount. Chromie caught him in her jaws as he fell. Blood flew.

"I never really cared… for orc meat…" said Chromie as the proto-drake, sensing freedom, flew off.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Faith couldn't help but laugh at Chromie's statement. "Come on. We've gotta get you to safety. Might be easier if you switched back."

The bronze drake did as Faith suggested, screaming as she did so.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Chromie… I know it hurts. But I can carry you like this if I need to." The injury had shrunk with Chromie, but proportionally, it seemed to cover her entire back, which was a ragged bloody mess. "Can you walk?"

"You don't ask much, do you?" She turned her head to the side, "What's with her?"

Faith's alternate was still staring at them, a peculiar expression on her face, "Sylvanas is alive here…"

"Yes."

"Is she your lover?"

Faith smiled a little, "She's my everything. My everything."

"She loves you."

A nod.

"And I suppose that if I were to kill you to take your place… she would realize it."

"Yes… yes, I daresay she would. Look, believe me when I say that I'd love to chat, but we don't have time for this now. If you help us end this battle, we'll talk things over, okay?" Faith bent down and picked Chromie up. "Please, Faith."

She didn't wait to see whether her other self would follow, carrying Chromie out of the pagoda and beginning to make her way towards the main part of the temple. But part of her knew that her other self was following her. Part of her knew that this other girl was too curious, despite her innate hatred of everything.

She wanted to know about Sylvanas.

And how could she blame her? After everything this girl had gone through, losing Sylvanas that way, being forced to  _kill_  her… she would want to know too. She would  _need_  to know.

An orc came at them, but didn't get very far. A spell, cast by Vol'jin, encased the orc in shadow, pulling him towards the new warchief of the Horde.

Faith took the opportunity to sprint towards a clear area against the main temple's walls, where she set Chromie down. "I'm not a healer, you know," she said quickly, pulling a pouch from a bag that she'd strapped to her left leg. "I don't know how much I can help you."

"Leave me here, Faith. I'll be okay."

"I didn't say there was nothing I could do." She quickly grabbed a few herbs, using spells to grind them into a fine powder. Conjuring a goblet of water, she put the herbs there and used another spell to make the contents of the goblet boil. "Drink this. It'll be bitter, but I think it should help. It's a mix of pandaren and Quel'Thalas herbs."

Chromie took the goblet from her and sniffed it cautiously.

"I'm not going to poison you," Faith told her. She glanced around as the temple shook. She glanced back, seeing her twisted twin just behind her, "She would, though."

She was about to rejoin the battle when her alternate self froze her in place with a spell. "Tell me about Sylvanas!" she demanded.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything!"

"We really don't have time for this!" cried Chromie. The potion was working fast, her color getting better, and it was obvious that she wanted to turn herself back into a dragon, but she was still too weak to do so.

Faith shook her head, "We're together, is that what you want me to tell you? We're lovers. She's in love with me, and I'm in love with her. I don't know what else there is to say about that."

"She really loves you?"

"She really loves me."

"But you're… you say you're lovers. You didn't say that she's your wife."

"We're not married."

"If she loves you so much…"

"I kissed her for the first time on the day she died. When I found her again, she'd been raised as a banshee, but I was still alive. She had this idea then that I shouldn't live in darkness with the undead, but that I should be in the sun, married to someone who was bright and alive. Now, I'm undead, but she still won't… She says that we don't need a piece of paper to show the world that we're in love."

"She's scared," said Chromie.

"Scared?" the alternate's eyes flashed. "The Sylvanas I knew was never scared."

A proto-drake suddenly landed next to them, taking them by surprise. It roared, ready to breathe fire on them, and both versions of Faith peppered it with spells. They froze its mouth closed before beginning to cast arcane spells, which sizzled its flesh with bright white light. The drake attempted to fight them off to no avail.

"You two work well together," said Chromie, finally managing to get back to her feet. "I suppose that since you're the same person, in essence, you think alike." She looked at them before settling on Faith's alternate. "Sylvanas is scared. She's afraid of making things official between her and Faith because she feels that if it happens, they won't have anything else to look forward to. She's also terrified to allow herself to feel real happiness, because the last time it happened, this one here was killed."

Faith looked at Chromie, "How do you know that?"

"I've seen hundreds of timelines with you and Sylvanas. In some of them, you don't know each other, but in others, you're so in love that it affects the world around you, like now."

"We don't affect –."

"Trust me, you do. People who know you want to have your love." She looked hard at Faith's alternate self, "The love they didn't share when they were alive? They're sharing it now. Sure, they have their rough patches like everyone else, but they have a bond that's not easily broken. Death couldn't keep them apart."

Faith cleared her throat, feeling uncomfortable discussing this while people battled around them. She turned around as she heard someone scream, her eyes landing on Prince Anduin holding on to a version of himself that was dying. Not too far away, she could see Jaina fighting herself as well.

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly, unaware that she was going to speak. "I'm sorry for what you've been through. You should have never had to witness all of that, you should have gotten to experience Sylvanas' love."

"This isn't my world…" said her alternate quietly. "There's no place for me in a world where Sylvanas loves another version of me…"

"You have a chance to go back to your own world and build something new."

She shook her head, "No. I can't go back. Not after… no." Looking at Faith with blazing eyes, she handed her Sylvanas' bow, "Will you promise me to look after her? Please? Make sure she's happy?"

Faith took the bow from her, absently putting up a shield to keep stray spells from hitting them, "Of course."

"That's all I can ask for. Goodbye, Faith. I'm sorry I tried to kill you."

"Don't do this," Faith told her in sudden understanding. "Please…"

She smiled, "I have nothing to live for anymore." An unusual tear ran down her cheek, not one made of dust, but one made of black blood. "And it's better this way. Maybe I'll see her again…"

As she finished speaking, she spread her arms wide. Suddenly, her entire body was engulfed in black flames that consumed her so quickly that she didn't even have time to scream.

"By the Light…" whispered Faith. She was too shocked to move.

Chromie called out to her, a warning that only barely registered as a column of flame shot towards her. Instinct took over and she rolled to the side, avoiding the fire. At the same time, Chromie managed to turn back into her true self, and soared into the air, damaged wing slowing her, but keeping her aloft enough to fight.

The battle raged on. Faith started to fight again, still feeling numb as she brought down orc after orc, not paying attention to any additional injuries she was sustaining. Her mind strayed to Sylvanas and to what might have happened had they lived in an alternate timeline. Was there a world where the Scourge had never touched them? A world where they had been free to love each other?

She couldn't think about what her other self had talked about. The way she and Sylvanas had suffered. She couldn't. It was too much.

She had never felt so unsettled before, and thus wasn't paying close attention when the August Celestials released a tremendous spell that killed most of the Blackrock orcs who hadn't yet fallen. To her, it seemed as though the battle ended suddenly, although her muscles told her that a considerable amount of time had passed.

Lor'themar found her standing in a snowdrift, looking down at Sylvanas' bow.

"Faith," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I hardly know," she whispered.

"You missed it. Jaina died, and Chi-Ji brought her back."

"Brought… what?" she looked at him.

"He said that enough people had died today, and he just… brought her back to life. Good as new." He wiped blood from her cheek, and paused. "Chromie told us about the other you. I'm sure it wasn't easy to watch her kill herself."

Faith started to laugh, "You know how, for years, we've all thought that what the Scourge did to us was a nightmare?"

"It  _was_  a nightmare."

"Yes… but what she went through was worse. A thousand times worse. I can't imagine it."

"It isn't something you should dwell on. You have no control over what happened in an alternate timeline. Hell, we barely even have control over what happens to us here on a day to day basis." He turned her so that she would look at him, "One thing you  _did_  do today was keep her from killing us. And you gave her some peace of mind."

"I just feel really confused. Everything was fine. Then suddenly, the August Celestials decide to keep Garrosh in jail for the rest of his life, and then…" she waved her hand around the battlefield. Snow was stained red where people had fallen. Bodies of every shape and size littered the ground. "Oh, I have to get to Dalaran to get the people we evacuated there."

"You evacuated people to Dalaran? Horde?"

She nodded. "I had to. Not every spectator here could fight, and Dalaran was the only place that made sense for everyone here. Jaina helped me with the portal."

"I see. Well, let's go take care of them first. Then we'll have to figure out where Garrosh and Kairoz went."

"We don't know that yet?"

Lor'themar shook his head, leading her towards where the others were. Everyone looked a little shell-shocked by everything that had happened, but none more than Jaina, who was leaning against Kalecgos, her face pale.

"Be you all right, Faith?" Vol'jin asked her quietly.

Faith gave a noncommittal shrug. "What happened with Kairoz?"

"Oh, he betrayed us, plain and simple," said Taran Zhu. "I do not know what Garrosh promised him, but it must have been enough for him. I'm sure we will find them someday."

"I hope it's soon," said Nozdormu. He was looking most unhappy. "Kairoz used the Sands of Time to make a portal, which means that it's not only a question of where they are, but when they are. The possibilities are endless. But my flight will look into this right away."

They had to be content with that, and soon after, they left the temple. Many of the monks stayed behind to clean up after the battle and take care of the dead, but Faith made her way to Dalaran with Jaina.

She didn't stay there long, merely hugging her family and creating several portals to the various Horde capitals for everyone there.

"Do you want to talk?" asked Hamu before taking the portal to Thunder Bluff.

She shook her head. "I do, but not now. I need to talk to Sylvanas first. But I'll come see you guys soon."

"Faith, you're hurt," said Atalo.

A small smile, "You can't heal me, Father."

He grunted, "I'll find a way to do that someday."

"You can't! I mean, the Light can heal us, but it hurts, and the best way to do that is by using necromancy." She hugged him, "Don't worry, I'll make sure to get healed when I get home."

She waited until her family had gone back to Thunder Bluff before she stepped through the open portal to Undercity.


	11. Chapter 11

Rotvine was pacing around and around the throne room when Faith arrived. She was limping, and her face was bruised, but for the first time since he'd known her, he didn't pay attention to the fact that she was obviously hurt.

"Thank the Light you're here," he said. "Something's happened."

"Yeah, something's happened to me too. Or rather, to all of us. Garrosh escaped."

That revelation caused Rotvine to stare at her, an unreadable expression on his face. "Escaped," he repeated.

Faith gave a nod, "I need to talk to Sylvanas about this first. Where is she?"

"Oh, Sylvanas? Yeah… you'll want to follow the screams."

"Screams?"

"I don't know what happened. She got a letter and took off like an arrow. I caught a glimpse of her face…" he shook his head once. "I've never seen her like that."

Faith bit her lip, "I'll find her. We'll talk afterwards about Garrosh." Not bothering to change out of her bloodstained clothes, she made her way to the Ruins of Lordaeron, hoping to see Sylvanas there. But there was no one there, save for a couple of patrolling abominations who merely pointed in the direction of the Plaguelands when Faith asked about her lover.

She opened her mind as much as she could, and, for an instant, felt Sylvanas in her heart. There was terrible pain. Anguish. A flash of shoreline seen through the queen's eyes.

 _Get out of my head!_ There was a great push, and Faith stumbled backwards, nearly falling as Sylvanas mentally shoved her away.

"Oh, for the Light's sake…"

She began to conjure a portal, the arcane energies draining her more quickly than usual. She went through the vortex, landing next to a pile of slaughtered murlocs who were oozing blood on the dark sand.

"Get out of here."

Sylvanas' voice was like ice, holding an edge to it that had never once been aimed at her. Faith looked at her, shocked to see her looking the way she was. Her skin looked grayer than usual, almost sick, as though she'd had a tremendous emotional blow. Huge black circles were under her eyes, making her look more like a member of the Scourge than she ever had.

"I mean it. Get out of here before I do something I'm going to regret."

"I have to talk to you."

"There's nothing I need from you."

Aware that she was risking her life, Faith approached Sylvanas slowly. Sylvanas backed away quickly, not wanting to be near her. "Get away from me!"

"No. Never. I got the same letter you did, love."

"You know nothing of love!"

Faith absorbed the blow, looking carefully at Sylvanas. "I know Vereesa betrayed you."

" _You_ betrayed me!" she screamed suddenly, piercingly. "You told her! You said you would!" She jumped, landing hard on Faith, who fell, hurting herself. One of her hands closed around Faith's throat while the other one pulled a dagger from her belt.

"I said I would, yes. But I didn't. I promise I didn't. Look at me, Sylvanas." She waited until the queen's eyes were on hers. "I got Vereesa's letter as soon as I went back to Pandaria. She doesn't know what you were planning on doing to her. She just elected to stay with her sons." Cautiously, she stroked Sylvanas' hand with her fingers.

Sylvanas' looked wild, her eyes so red they appeared to have been dipped in fiery blood. For a moment, intense grief coursed through her body, giving her skin a translucent quality. Her hair, Faith saw, was covered in blood, grime, and dead twigs.

Then, without her even being ready for it, the glow dimmed from her eyes and a wail was wrenched out of her, nearly shaking the land in its intensity. She collapsed against Faith's body, shaking with sobs, the dagger dropping from her limp hand.

Faith's heart broke. Moving just enough to wrap her arms around Sylvanas, she held her, saying nothing.

She didn't know how long they stayed like this, even after Sylvanas had cried herself out, still shaking with residual sorrow. Faith rubbed her back slowly, carefully, her own dusty tears drying on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she said finally.

Sylvanas slowly moved her head to look at her. She didn't say anything, but after a minute, she got to her feet and began to walk away. It took Faith only a couple of seconds to get up and follow her, picking up the fallen dagger along the way.

"Sylvanas," she said.

The banshee queen stopped. Faith expected her to pull away, but she barely reacted when she put an arm around her waist.

It took them hours to return to Undercity because they were moving so slowly. Here and there, Faith saw the destruction Sylvanas had caused to Tirisfal Glades in her fury. Carcasses of bears, wolves, and spiders littered the ground, having attracted carrion birds and insects.

"I suppose I should be happy you didn't make your way to the Scarlet Monastery. You might have decimated them in your anger."

Nothing. They walked on in silence.

Only when they had reached the ruins of Lordaeron did Faith mention that Garrosh hadn't been sentenced to death.

"I guess you knew that, already," she added. "What you don't know, but might have guessed, is that he escaped."

That brought a reaction. Sylvanas stopped walking, turning her head towards her. In her silence, she was more terrifying than usual, and for the first time, Faith felt afraid of her.

"We did everything we could to stop him. But Kairoz had apparently planned things very well." She told Sylvanas almost everything, although she didn't mention having fought a version of herself.

Sylvanas just looked at her, motionless. Faith finished her tale, surprised when the queen reached out for her, her finger tracing the visible wound at her shoulder. An unspoken statement hung in the air.

* * *

They reached their chambers a while later. People wanted to talk to Sylvanas, but one look at her dissuaded them quickly. The guards quickly took it upon themselves to bar the entrance to the throne room to anybody but Rotvine.

"Will you let me wash you?" Faith asked Sylvanas once she'd closed the door behind them.

Sylvanas gave a slight nod and began to undress as Faith filled a tub with cool water in which she added a mixture of lavender and jasmine oil.

Things didn't get sexual between them, although Faith was tender as she rubbed Sylvanas' muscles, trying to ease away her lover's tension. Once, she placed a kiss between her shoulder blades. Sylvanas looked back at her, still not saying anything.

"I know you don't really believe anything right now, but I love you. And for future reference, what you did earlier, trying to choke me? You might have done that when I was alive. It's not as effective now that I'm dead."

"Duly noted."

Faith jumped, nearly falling into the tub. "She speaks…"

Sylvanas' smile barely registered onto her features, but it was there. She got up, water dripping from her body, "You're going to need stitches on that shoulder if you're not going to see a healer." Wrapping a towel around herself, she stepped out of the water before drying herself and getting dressed. "Come here."

Faith went to her, "What do you need?"

Sylvanas looked at her for a minute, taking her in. "I need you to forgive me."

"Forgive you?" asked Faith, bewildered. "For what?"

"For thinking you had betrayed me. I really believed that you had. I don't know whether that hurt me more than Vereesa saying she wasn't coming…"

"I nearly did," Faith told her honestly. "I couldn't, and still can't, believe that you were planning on doing something like that. I had every intention of telling her, not because I wanted to hurt you, but because I wanted her to make an informed decision. As it turns out, I didn't need to say anything, because she chose on her own."

"You really would have told her."

"Yes, I would have. You and I don't disagree on a lot of things, but on this point, my stance was clear. I'm sorry if it hurts you, but that's the way it is." She sat on the bed and pulled Sylvanas down to sit with her, "Think for a second of what it was you wanted to do. Then think about what Arthas did to our home, to our families. To you."

"Vereesa wanted to join us."

"I know that. But that doesn't mean that she was willing to lose her life for it." Faith brushed a lock of hair away from Sylvanas' forehead, "Had she known this and still agreed to it, I wouldn't have said anything. Or at least, I wouldn't have said much."

"You would have said a lot."

"That's true, I suppose." She placed a gentle kiss to Sylvanas' cheek, "I'm so sorry."

Sylvanas closed her eyes. "Could you leave me alone for a bit? I need to think."

"Of course." She got off the bed, hesitating, "May I kiss you?"

Surprised, Sylvanas looked up, "You've never asked me for permission before. Not that I can remember, anyway."

"You seem a little… fragile."

"Fragile?!"

"Emotionally. Right now. You've been through a lot."

"And you think that because I've been through a lot I'm going to object to having your lips on mine?" Quicker than Faith thought possible, Sylvanas grabbed her, "Kiss me."

She did. It was soft. Sweet. She lingered just a little, unsure of Sylvanas' reaction.

The queen pulled away gently, "You call that a kiss?"

"If you want more, all you have to do is ask."

"I will. Later today." Sylvanas kissed her forehead, "I love you. Thank you for coming to me."

Faith's eyes filled with tears, "I love you, Sylvanas."

"Go, now," she said gently. "I'll join you in a bit."

"I don't want to leave you."

Sylvanas smiled, stroking her face with her thumbs. "Just a few minutes."

"Okay…" Reluctantly, Faith stepped away from Sylvanas and left the room, running almost immediately into Rotvine, who was waiting for her. "Whoa! Hi… Carrick."

"You brought Sylvanas back. How is she? Is she okay? What happened?"

Faith gently took Rotvine's arm and led him away from the door, "She's going to be fine. I can't tell you what happened because it's something she needs to do on her own. If she feels like sharing, she will."

He nodded, "Yeah, all right. But what about Garrosh? We just got word about how he escaped. Is it true? A bronze drake helped him?"

"I'm afraid so."

"And he brought forth… copies of you guys to fight?"

"Not copies. More like alternate versions of us. You remember when we had to fight Murozond?"

"Yes."

"It was kind of like that."

"Did he bring Sylvanas?"

"No. He brought… me. It was another version of me. One who went through things that I can't even imagine." Faith's voice shook.

"What?" He took her to the visitor's sitting room. "Tell me."

She began haltingly, not wanting to linger too long on what her alternate self had told her. "She was so… so angry. Like Sylvanas used to be, but worse. So much worse. The things she witnessed…" she kept talking, starting to cry when she got to the part about her killing herself.

Rotvine stared at her, dumbstruck.

"When I think of what could have happened… you know, I never thought about it before. I always imagined a world without the Scourge, one where we'd just stayed alive… but I never thought about things being worse than what they were here."

"I never really considered us to be  _lucky_ ," said Sylvanas from the doorway. Faith jumped out of her skin, looking back and seeing her leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed.

"Sylvanas…" Faith's voice was strangled. A second later, she had run to her, wrapping her arms around her, crying. "Oh, you weren't supposed to hear that."

"I may be going through something, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to ignore the fact that you're in pain, love." She briefly pulled Faith off her, "You should have told me."

Faith shook her head, "I couldn't. Not… I wanted to wait."

Pressing her lips together, Sylvanas touched her forehead to Faith's. "I guess you and I  _are_  lucky in a lot of respects. We're together. We love each other, despite whatever differences we may have every once in a while. We died, but that hasn't kept us apart, has it?"

"No…"

Rotvine cleared his throat, "Sorry to interrupt you, my ladies, but I feel that I should be elsewhere, and you're blocking the door."

Faith and Sylvanas turned their heads towards him, seeing him looking interestedly at the ceiling. Sylvanas chuckled, "Sorry, Carrick. We'll stop."

At that, Rotvine gave some kind of snort, which sounded more like a growl, "I know the two of you well enough to know that you're not going to stop. And that's okay, really. I love seeing you two together this way. You lean on each other the way you should. It's sweet. Sickening, mind you, but sweet."

Resting her head against Sylvanas' shoulder, Faith closed her eyes for a few seconds, memorizing the feel of Sylvanas' hands against her back. "Chromie mentioned that our love touched people. I don't know why, really."

"Because it's survived everything that's been thrown at it," said Rotvine promptly. "You've both died, and you're still together. Not many people can claim that." He shrugged, "Besides, I've said it before, your love has given us hope. Hope that, even in undeath, we're still capable of loving."

Sylvanas looked down at Faith, "I suppose that what you say is true," she murmured.

"Whatever happens to you, even if you fight and grow horribly apart… I don't know, it's like there's something that brings you two together again. You're drawn to each other, like magnets."

"Soulmates," said Faith, her voice almost inaudible.

Rotvine nodded. There didn't seem to be anything else to say. He smiled, leaving them alone. The two of them always seemed to end up exactly where they were at that moment. Together, reminding each other how much they were in love. It was where they belonged.

* * *

A couple of weeks passed.

People flitted in and out of Undercity, giving and receiving reports on the Garrosh situation, but not staying long to chat. The Kor'kron were removed from their positions in all of Tirisfal Glades, replaced instead with dreadguards and abominations with higher-than-average intelligence. One of them, a smaller one named Gorely, took a liking to Faith as soon as he saw her.

"You could keep him as a pet," Sylvanas told her, amused.

"You want me to keep an abomination as a pet? Shall we invite him to watch us make love?"

"I didn't say we had to keep him in our chambers," she said, trying not to laugh. "It could be worse."

Faith shook her head, finally asking the creature to remain in the Magic Quarter of Undercity as a guard, something he readily agreed to because it was a place she visited on a daily basis.

However, on occasion, he followed her around the city, as he did on the day she found herself alone in the ruins, leaning against a wall, quite alone. He didn't approach her, merely staying behind a tree in case she needed something.

But she didn't. Not really.

Lost in thought, remembering what had happened years ago on that very day, she felt the familiar pain of loss coursing through her. She sank to the ground, not quite crying, and completely unaware for once that Sylvanas was just a few feet behind her.

She looked up as a figure approached, instantly recognizing Chromie in her gnomish appearance.

"Chromie!" she said, leaping to her feet. "This is a surprise! What are you doing here?"

The dragon smiled, coming closer, "Looking for you, actually. I never got a chance to properly thank you for helping me at the temple."

"Oh, I didn't do much, you know."

"You got me out of the cells, and you helped me when I was injured. I'd say that's a lot, Faith."

"Anybody would have done the same. Not many people say it, but you're important to people. You keep history. Nobody would have let you die." She waited, but when Chromie didn't say anything, Faith shook her head gently, "You're welcome."

She sat down again, and Chromie came to sit next to her, "What are you doing here all alone?"

"Just taking some time for myself."

Looking shrewdly at her, Chromie twirled a blade of grass between her fingers. "Funny how quickly fifteen years pass."

Fifteen years. Faith could hardly believe it had been that long. So much had happened, and yet, part of her felt that Sylvanas had died only yesterday, taking part of her away forever.

"You should be with Sylvanas right now."

"I'll go to her in a bit. I just want to compose myself before I do. She doesn't want to see me grieve again."

"Oh, I think that she perfectly understands how you feel now, having been through the same thing herself." She made a small noise in the back of her throat, "I have a proposition for you."

Faith glanced at her, "What kind of proposition?"

Chromie waited a few seconds before answering, "Nozdormu, in all his wisdom, agreed with me when I suggested this, so you can consider this as having been blessed by the Aspects."

"I thought there were no more Aspects after Deathwing was killed."

"The principle remains the same," said Chromie. "He agreed to let me create a portal for you. A time portal, if you will."

"A time portal? Like the kind Garrosh and Kairoz went through?" Faith's eyes went wide as saucers at the thought.

"Yes, but not quite similar." She paused, "If you could go back in time, what would you do?"

"You mean besides kill Arthas in his cradle?"

Chromie laughed, "Yes, besides that."

Faith closed her eyes, beginning to smile. "I would want to see Sylvanas again. As she used to be. Alive. Healthy. With her golden hair so pure that it shamed the morning sun. I would tell her… a million things."

"What if I gave you the chance to do that?"

Faith went absolutely still. A chance to do that? To go back in time and talk to Sylvanas? A  _real_  chance? She opened her eyes incredulously, not knowing what to say.

"It wouldn't alter the timeline in any way. You would get a chance to talk to her for, say, a few hours, and it wouldn't change the grand scheme of things. But it would be your Sylvanas that you would see and talk to."

A tear ran down her cheek. In the shadows, hidden behind a partially collapsed wall, Sylvanas shifted silently, listening.

"It… it wouldn't change anything?"

"No. She won't remember anything you tell her."

"That would… Chromie, I can't even begin to quantify how much that would mean to me, but…" she cleared her throat, her voice growing stronger. "Sending me back in time, as an undead elf, to face Sylvanas Windrunner, Ranger General of Silvermoon… she'll kill me on sight."

A smile tugged at Chromie's features, "You really think that Sylvanas will kill you on sight? You're perfectly recognizable as yourself."

"Except for the being dead part."

"She won't kill you. She may try, but she won't." Chromie blinked, "You do realize that I know this. I'm not just guessing it."

"I bow to the wisdom of the Bronze Dragonflight," whispered Faith. "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive. Like I said, Nozdormu agreed to this."

Not daring to believe that it was so simple, Faith rubbed her eyes, "How, though? If you had the ability to do this all along… why didn't you do it before?"

"Well, we don't really have the ability to do this on a whim. Do you remember how Nozdormu created a time portal for Krasus and Rhonin to send them back to the War of the Ancients?"

Faith gave a slow nod.

"It took a tremendous amount of power for him to do something like that. And I think that he pulled different versions of himself to his current plane in order to achieve this, although he's never said anything about it."

"Right. I guess that if you did it for everyone, there would be nothing left of you."

"Exactly. But we have something now that we didn't have then." Chromie took a small crystal phial from her robes. Inside it swirled a golden substance Faith recognized at once.

"The Sands of Time?"

"Yes. This small amount, combined with a bit of magic will create the portal you need. It would take me months to explain the full mechanics of it to you. Suffice it to say that I can create the portal now for you to go back in time, and create another portal to bring you back."

"Without consequences? You're sure?"

"I'm positive. You understand that, Faith, I'm positive. I wouldn't suggest it if it altered our timeline in any way."

"You'll be watching."

"I will. You have nothing to worry about." She waited, "Shall we?"

" _Now_?" Faith wasn't ready for this. She looked down at what she was wearing: another version of the outfit she'd worn during Garrosh's trial, except that this one was black and blue instead of white. Sylvanas had bought seven other varieties for her, including one that was pink and black, to her chagrin.

"No time like the present. You'll get too nervous if you have to think about it much longer." She got to her feet, taking a few steps and pouring the contents of the phial onto the ground. She began to speak in Draconic, using spells Faith had never even heard of before as a portal slowly coalesced in front of her.

Mouth slightly agape, Faith watched. Could she really do this? Could she go back to Quel'Thalas and see Sylvanas? She felt like electricity was running through her body. Her heart tried to beat. She felt petrified with fear.

"You should go through immediately, Faith," Chromie told her, looking back at her.

Faith tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come immediately. After a false start, she managed it, "What day are you sending me back to?"

"You'll know it when you get there."

Slowly getting up, Faith licked her lips. A strange sense of calm seemed to come over her. "Okay," she whispered. "I'm ready."

"Go, then. I'll see you soon."

A nod, "Thank you…"

She stepped through the portal, which closed around her like a glittering caress. The world around her blurred, and she felt as though something was tugging her backwards with incredible force, but she felt no pain, only the sensation of floating through the air, weightless. Her eyes fluttered shut.

Abruptly, she landed, stumbling backwards and sitting down.

She waited, keeping her eyes closed, certain that it hadn't worked.

But even as she began to open her eyes, she sensed that something was different. There were birds singing. She could smell the air, and it was clean. Green.

She was home.


	12. Chapter 12

Sylvanas jumped forward as she saw Faith disappearing through the portal.

"What did you  _do_?" she screamed at Chromie, trying to follow her.

The dragon, not surprised at all to see Sylvanas there, used her own brand of magic to keep her in place so that she wouldn' leap in after Faith. "Relax, Sylvanas. Faith isn't in any danger, I promise. She's fine. Everything's going to be fine."

"You  _sent her back in time_?" she shrieked. "This will  _break_  her! She can't see me like that and then come back here where I'm dead! She'll start grieving all over again!"

"Honestly, you have to calm down. Faith is much stronger than you give her credit for, you know. Not only can she see your past self and talk to her, but she can use this to finally close that chapter of her life and move on without grieving all the time."

Sylvanas shook her head, trying to break free of the magical bonds Chromie had put on her, "Release me this instant."

"Only if you promise not to jump through that portal right away. You can join her, just… give it some time. Give  _them_  some time to get used to each other."

"Get used to… wait, she's going to see  _herself_  as well?"

Chromie gave a nod. "You will see."

* * *

Home.

How often had she thought about being home again? Of smelling the sweet magical air, and of listening to the breeze rustling softly through the trees?

Birds flew overhead, their song seemingly crafted to bring pleasure and peace to anybody listening to it.

She was home. Finally.

Memories flowed through her like water through a stream. She remembered being here, in her forest, picking herbs and wildflowers in hues of crimson and ice. Flowers that Sylvanas had once woven through her hair on a bright day when they had been alone, nearly succumbing to the overwhelming need that had plagued hem both.

Slowly, Faith got to her feet, pulling the hood over her head again, concealing her face. She looked down, half-expecting the grass beneath her feet to wither at her touch, but that didn't happen.

She began to walk, knowing exactly where she was when she stepped into a clearing more than two hundred yards away from her house.

A trunkless tree stood majestically in the center of the clearing, its many branches jutting directly from the ground and into the sky in a golden-veined embrace. It had been Faith's favorite tree, one that she had claimed as her own decades previously. Its leaves were a lovely spring green, spiked with the purest gold. It had been her refuge, she remembered, every time Sylvanas had left her side.

She walked to it now, running her fingers over the smooth bark and finding the tiny carving she had etched into one of the branches. A heart under which were two sets of initials: SW and FE.

"What a sentimental fool I was back then…" she said softly to herself. Not that she wasn't a fool now, having carved the exact same thing on Sylvanas' headboard in their chambers. She smiled.

She wasn't alone.

Her form stilled as she recognized the sensation of being hunted. Her eyes darted over the clearing, taking in two moss-covered tree trunks that had been arranged around a boulder – she and her siblings had had picnics there – and the surrounding woods.

Something was behind her.

A new smell reached her, one that she would have been able to pick up from miles away, in a crowd of millions.

Sweet spices. An undercurrent of roses.

"Turn around slowly."

That voice. Faith closed her eyes as her heart seemingly attempted to beat again. She hadn't heard that voice in fifteen years.

Sylvanas.

* * *

Concealed behind a tall bush, the banshee queen watched Faith slowly turning around as her past self, the ranger-general, pointed a deadly arrow at her.

She had absolutely no memory of having ever seen an undead version of Faith when she'd been alive. Something like that would have surely stayed with her and haunted her nightmares. But there was nothing. She tried to remember it, but her mind came up with nothing at all, as though someone had wiped that particular memory out of her head.

It bothered her, that she had interacted with Faith without remembering any of it. Whatever magic the Bronze Dragonflight had used, it must have been exceptionally strong to keep her from that precise moment.

She watched.

* * *

"Who are you?"

Faith wanted to answer, but found that she absolutely couldn't. She stared at Sylvanas, at this warm,  _living_  version of Sylvanas, and tried to focus her thoughts.

All her dreams hadn't prepared her for seeing her alive again. Her memory hadn't done her justice. Nothing could. No words, no painting, no song.

Sylvanas Windrunner.

A dusty tear coursed down Faith's cheek.

"Is it real?" she whispered. "Is it really you, Sylvanas?"

Sylvanas looked at her. Fear momentarily visible on her features. It was so fleeting that Faith would have missed it had she not known Sylvanas as well as she did.

"Who are you?" she repeated. "I will not ask again."

No, she certainly wouldn't. It was a miracle that she hadn't released her arrow already.

"I cannot tell you who I am without shocking you," said Faith in a low voice, trying to keep the general from identifying her. "Suffice it to say that I am a friend. I didn't come here to harm you."

"Show yourself to me."

Faith shook her head, "No…" she whispered, her voice breaking. "I can't. I shouldn't have come…"

She made to run, but not for nothing had Sylvanas becoming the youngest general in the history of Quel'Thalas. In a catlike move, she pounced, landing in front of Faith so quickly that she was momentarily stunned. Swiftly, she reached over and pulled the hood from Faith's head, exposing her face.

Shock. Horror. Pain. Despair. Agony.

Those emotions widened Sylvanas' eyes in an instant.

"No!" she screamed. "No… Faith?!" She backed away, her bow and arrow clattering to the ground as she raised a hand to her mouth to stifle a scream. "No. No. No. No, it can't… No. No, I just left you. You're safe. You have to be safe."

"Sylvanas. No, please, don't… I'm fine. Faith is fine. I promise."

It was as if every nightmare Sylvanas had ever had had coalesced in front of her. She kept backing away, tripping over nothing and falling backwards. Tears spilled from her eyes as she hitched in gasping breaths.

"No…" she said again. "No, no, no, no… Faith. My Faith. No, you can't be…"

" _Your_  Faith is fine. Sylvanas, please, Take a breath. She's fine. I promise you, she's safe."

"She's safe?"

"I'm not your Faith, Sylvanas. I am Faith Everstone, but I'm not the one you know. Not yet."

Sylvanas placed a hand over her heart, taking deep breaths, "Not… not yet?" she asked. "What do you mean?"

Faith looked at her, kneeling, "How did you know I was here?"

There was a brief pause as Sylvanas swallowed convulsively. "I saw," she breathed, "I saw a portal. People don't usually make portals in the middle of the forest."

"And you saw me come through it, so you came to investigate."

She nodded. Color was coming back to her face, and Faith guessed that she'd be okay in another minute or two. "Where did you come from?"

"I think you already know the answer to that question, Sylvanas."

* * *

Faith was talking to her living self. It was one of the most bizarre things she had ever witnessed, and she had witnessed a lot of bizarre things since she had died and been raised.

She was stunned by her past self's reaction to seeing Faith as an undead. Stunned because she still felt that horror when she looked at her, knowing that she was responsible for having raised her.

But Faith was speaking quietly, answering the ranger's questions in a calm voice.

Sylvanas knew that her past self was very skeptical about what she was seeing, but things seemed to be going well. She didn't fully believe what was going on, but she was at least willing to accept that Faith wasn't there to hurt her.

"This is going to be interesting," she whispered in the wind.

"Sylvanas?" came a voice.

Sylvanas froze.

* * *

An otherworldly shriek rent the air.

Sylvanas jumped to her feet, turning around and seeing Faith standing a few yards away, staring at something at the edge of the forest. Her face was ghostly white, her glowing amber eyes wide and terrified.

"No! No, Sylvanas! No!"

Several things happened at once.

Someone cast a spell to silence the screams, and Sylvanas – the living Sylvanas – ran towards Faith, catching her before she collapsed to the ground.

Slowly, another version of Sylvanas emerged, looking absolutely furious with herself. She walked towards where her lover stood, rooted to the spot in shock.

"You know, I could have told you this was going to happen, had you spoken to me before jumping through that portal half-cocked," she said.

"Okay, I was supposed to see the past version of  _you_ , not me. And what in the name of Azeroth are you doing here, Sylvanas? How did you… were you spying on me?"

"I was just visiting your grave when I happened to see you and Chromie in the yard. I heard what you were talking about, and was hoping that you would have seen reason. Why would you want to come back here? Are you trying to hurt yourself again?"

"Of course not. But what was I supposed to do? Pretend like this opportunity wasn't there? Besides, Chromie said that it wouldn't change the timeline at all."

"Yeah, I know it won't change the timeline, baby, but it doesn't stop the fact that you're setting yourself up for more heartache, and I don't think I can handle that for you. Why would you do that to yourself?"

Faith shook her head, "Sylvanas, I can't explain this. She gave me the opportunity, and I took it. And don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing, because I know that you would have." She took her hand, "What were you doing at my grave?"

"Grave? There's… there's a grave?"

Both of them looked away from each other, seeing their past selves right in front of them. Faith's past version looked like she was about to faint and was staring at Sylvanas as though she wanted to wake up from whatever nightmare she was in.

"Maybe you guys should sit down," said Faith in a quiet voice. "We… we have a lot to talk about, and I don't know how long we have until we have to go back." She turned away from them, walking around the tree and letting her hand brush against the initials before crossing the clearing and taking a seat on one of the first fallen trunks.

Her Sylvanas – undead Sylvanas – came to sit next to her, while their past selves sat on the other trunk, looking at them.

"What's going on?" asked the general. "Why are you here? How did you get here?"

"And what's happened to you?"

Faith looked at herself, trying to figure out a way to explain the situation. "Okay. Do you know About the Bronze Dragonflight?"

They nodded slowly.

"Good. Then you know that they have the power to go back in time, so to speak."

Another nod. "They have that power, but I've never heard of it done," said living Sylvanas.

"It's not," said Faith thoughtfully. "I don't really know why Chromie granted me this favor, to be honest."

"You saved her life."

Faith glanced at her lover, "Yes, but that's not enough to get Nozdormu to agree to something like this."

"Maybe not. But there's also the matter of you helping to clear Krasus' name after he was accused of betraying Alexstrasza. You've done a lot for the dragons over the past few years. Chromie told me before she allowed me to come through that Alexstrasza had been the one to call in the favor on your behalf."

"That doesn't make any sense. Thrall also helped me clear Krasus' name."

"Just take the favor, sweetheart, and stop questioning it. You can ask Chromie to explain it to you when we get back."

Faith rubbed her temples, "You're right. One thing at a time…" She looked up, "Anyways, that's what happened here."

"You came from the future," said past Faith, sounding uncertain. "Why?"

"Oh, your future self is going to have to tell you that. I just followed her because I wasn't about to let today pass without being with her."

Past Faith and Past Sylvanas looked at them, then at each other, before looking at them again. "What happened?"

Faith wasn't sure she was going to be able to speak. But after a few seconds, she began

* * *

She spoke for over an hour, not sugarcoating anything, but still trying to spare their past selves some pain. But by the end of the tale, Sylvanas had to take over. Faith was crying too hard.

"The Scourge…" she said quietly. "They decimated everything. When they got through the Gates of Quel'Thalas, it was over. None of us stood much of a chance against them, although we tried."

"How many people did they kill?" asked past Sylvanas, doing a passable job of keeping herself composed.

"Give or take, about ninety percent of the population here, and pretty much everyone in Lordaeron." Sylvanas shook her head, "It was a massacre. When I think I could have killed Arthas before he crossed the gates, but I had this idea about fighting fairly."

"That's gone, by the way," interjected Faith. "She doesn't fight fair anymore."

Past Faith stared at her, "But… our families…"

"No, sweetheart," Sylvanas told her. "Of our families, only you and Vereesa survived the attacks. Oh, and Zendarin, although we don't count him."

"And you?" she asked, tears spilling from her eyes. "You… you're going to die?"

Sylvanas got to her feet and walked to her, kneeling in front of her. "Yeah, honey. I'm going to die. And I'll…"

Choking back a sob, Faith continued, "Arthas killed…" she looked at Sylvanas' past self, surprised to see that she'd come to sit next to her "He killed you. You evacuated me to Silvermoon and you… you died. You forced me to l-leave you…"

"To keep you safe," she said quietly, rubbing her back gently. "I would die a thousand deaths before I let anything happen to you, Faith, you know that."

Faith shook her head, "No…"

"Yes."

"She doesn't believe that," Sylvanas called to her living self. "You can say it a hundred times, and she still won't believe it's true."

"Why? Why don't you believe it, Faith?"

"Because you were never supposed to die for me. You were supposed to stay alive. I can't make it without you. I couldn't…"

"But you can. You did. You say this happened fifteen years ago for you. You seem to have made it since then."

"But I didn't. I barely survived the pain of seeing you killed and raised as a banshee…"

"You  _did_  survive. And you managed to find me again, by the looks of things."

"But by the time I did, you were a… banshee. You weren't alive anymore, my love."

"But you were safe. I can't imagine what this is going to be like, but I can promise you that dying to keep you alive is probably the easiest choice I will ever have to make."

"No, Sylvanas."

"Listen to me." She took a deep breath, "I love you. I love you more than anything and anyone else in the world, and I've loved you for a very long time. If it keeps you alive, I will gladly give my life, even if it means being raised into whatever I become."

Faith shook her head again, but Sylvanas put both hands on her face, stilling her movements.

"If the situation were reversed, are you telling me that you wouldn't do the exact same thing?"

"Yeah, but you're Sylvanas."

"And you're Faith," said both versions of Sylvanas together. "It's about time you accepted the fact that I love you."

Living Sylvanas got up, looking at herself, "Can you and I talk privately for a minute? We'll give our girls a chance to… catch up, so to speak."

Faith watched as the two of them walked a short distance away and wiped her eyes before going to sit with her past self.

"I'm sorry we sprung this on you like that," she whispered.

"It's okay. I understand why you came back. Fifteen years… that's… that's a long time. I have a question, though."

"Go ahead."

"You said that you survived the Scourge. But you're not alive."

Faith nodded, "I was attacked a little over a year ago. I barely managed to get back to Sylvanas in time to die in her arms. She's the one who raised me. She had help, but she was the main instigator there."

"Why did she raise you?"

"You heard her. It's time to accept the fact that she loves me. That she loves us. She can't live without us, just like we can't live without her, and it's pointless to try. No matter what takes us away from each other, we always manage to be together again."

Faith's past self swallowed, "You two are together?"

"Oh yeah. We're together."

"Really? You're married?"

"Married?" Faith squeaked the word a little, causing Sylvanas to stop in mid-sentence and glance over at her. "No, we're not married. But she's my lover in every sense of the word."

"Your lover…"

The look on her face was so comical that Faith laughed. "Yes. It took a while after I found her again, but eventually, she gave in. We've been together ever since. It's been almost fourteen years."

"And you two… I mean, you… everything?"

Faith grinned. She'd forgotten how innocent she'd been then. "You know the daydreams you have at your window while you wait for her to come home to you? It's more intense than that."

"What daydreams?" asked Sylvanas, having come to sit with her again. "You had daydreams about me?"

"As if you didn't know."

" _I_  didn't know," said Sylvanas' living self.

Faith chuckled, "Yes. There were daydreams, and normal dreams that kept me awake. I called out for you. But you never answered me."

"I answer you now when you call out my name, love." Sylvanas glanced at their past selves and smiled, "We're scandalizing them."

She was right. Past Faith and past Sylvanas were blushing furiously, and looking anywhere but at each other.

"You know," said Faith quietly, "since you won't remember this, maybe you could take the opportunity to…" her voice trailed off.

"To what?"

"Kiss."

Past Faith blinked, "What? I can't! We… we've never…"

"We know you've never. And since whatever's happening now isn't going to affect the timeline at all, you won't do anything for quite some time."

"You're in love," said Sylvanas. "If there's one thing we've learned is that life is too short to worry about what other people think about your feelings."

"But then how come you're not married?" past Faith asked Sylvanas.

"She's got a point."

Sylvanas put a gentle hand over her lover's mouth, "I love you. I don't need a piece of paper to prove that, believe me."

Faith leaned back against her, closing her eyes until she took her hand away. "Sylvanas is right about life being too short. If I had known that her days were counted, I would have made my move long ago." She nodded to the bow resting against the tree trunk, "I remember when you got that bow. It was recently, wasn't it?"

The ranger-general nodded once, a frown on her face.

"Unless I've got my dates wrong, I would say that you've got about seventeen years to go before all hell breaks loose. That's seventeen years of yearning for each other."

They looked at each other, fear in their eyes.

"It won't be bad," said Sylvanas. "It can't be. It'll feel like the most natural thing in the world."

"Like you were made to fit together," added Faith. "Made for each other."

Past Sylvanas was breathing heavily. In front of her, Faith's past self was shaking. She stood, and a second later, the two of them had brought their mouths together in such a passionate kiss that their present selves stared, stunned.

"Come on," whispered Sylvanas in her ear after a minute. "Let's leave them to it." She got up, pulling Faith with her and backing away slowly, careful not to disturb them. "Light, that looks delicious…"

It really did. They were holding on to each other so tightly that their fingertips were white, their mouths fitting together, showing only the barest hint of tongue.

Faith gave a little moan, turning towards Sylvanas, not knowing whether to smile or cry, when a portal coalesced just behind them.

"Time to go home," said Sylvanas gently. Putting an arm around her, she pulled her through the portal and back to their own time.


	13. Chapter 13

**Warning:** Fluff.  Lots of fluffy fluff.

* * *

"Do you remember us kissing like that when we were alive?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "No. It would have been branded into my brain. Not to mention that I would have never let you go after that."

"Really?"

"Really. I have a hard enough time letting you go now. Back then when our responsibilities were less than what they are now? You would have never left my side."

Faith smiled, wrapping her arms around Sylvanas' waist and resting her head on her shoulder, "I would have liked that."

"Yeah. I know." Sylvanas kissed the top of her head and looked over at Chromie, "Thank you for that."

"Did you find what you needed to find?"

Faith gave a nod, "I... I guess I found out that Sylvanas' course was already set. That she loved me ardently then." She looked up at her lover, "And that she loves me just as ardently now."

"It's about time you decided to accept it," said Sylvanas softly, pressing her lips to her forehead.

"Sorry, I'm still not used to it." It was true. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Sylvanas loved her. "You love me. It boggles the mind."

Sylvanas smiled, "I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I'm not that special."

Faith looked at her, eyes wide, "The people who have chosen you as their leader completely disagree with that, my heart."

"They're a little starry-eyed when it comes to me, for the most part."

"Have you ever stopped to consider the fact that they might actually love you for who you are and everything you've done for them?"

Sylvanas kissed her suddenly, her tongue snaking into her mouth and making her see a thousand stars. She emitted some kind of breathless gasp, clutching Sylvanas tighter to herself until someone watching them would have hardly been able to tell where one ended and the other began.

Chromie's voice reached them, sounding a little embarrassed, "Oh, ignore me," she said. "I'm not standing right next to you, really, I'm not."

Faith was stunned when Sylvanas pulled away. She blinked and tried to speak, but couldn't. The queen smiled at her, wiping her lip with her thumb.

"You seem to have scrambled her brain."

Proud of herself for still managing to surprise her lover, Sylvanas nodded, "Good. Now, could you tell me why it is that you sent us back in time? I mean, I know that Faith saved your life and that she helped Alexstrasza, but that's a hell of a thank you."

"Faith has helped us on multiple occasions. We thought it appropriate to recognize that with a little gesture."

"A little gesture. Chromie, not that we don't appreciate this, but I know what kind of magic was involved here. It's not something anybody does on a whim."

Chromie sighed, "You won't like my answer."

"Try me."

"We were testing our time travel portals."

Sylvanas twitched, "You… what?"

"We know that Garrosh has gone back in time. We wanted to make sure that we could use the Sands of Time to do the same without doing something irrevocably bad, so we've been testing it. We sent you and Faith back to see what the consequences would be if you altered something in the timeline."

"You said that it wouldn't be affected."

"And it wasn't, because we had people in place to wipe your memories of what you had seen. This timeline didn't change at all, but it was close. We did the same thing in another timeline without wiping your memories, and the future completely changed."

"What exactly do you mean?"

"In this other timeline, where almost everything was similar to here, your alternates shared their knowledge of the future with their leaders, which completely prevented the later invasions of the Burning Legion."

"So… no Scourge?" asked Faith, eyes wide.

Chromie shook her head, "No Scourge. No Horde. Quel'Thalas remained secluded, as did the Kaldorei. The tauren were decimated by the centaur, and the humans and dwarves eventually went to war with each other, but it was nothing compared to the wars we've faced here."

Faith glanced at Sylvanas, "And what about us?"

"For lack of a better phrase, you lived happily ever after."

Staring at Chromie in shock, Faith pressed herself closer to Sylvanas, saying nothing. She knew she would be entirely grateful to the dragons for allowing her to go back in time, but part of her didn't appreciate being treated as a test subject. Next to her, she could feel Sylvanas trying to control an emotional outburst.

"I'm sorry. I know it's not fair that we did this to you. But… this is really going to help us."

"I'm glad it's going to help," said Sylvanas through clenched teeth. "But next time you decide to do something like this, a little warning might be in order."

"Oh, I don't think we're going to do this again, don't worry. Not with you guys, anyway." She gave a small bow, "I'll take my leave now. But thank you for understanding."

Sylvanas didn't say anything, merely watching Chromie leave while keeping an arm around Faith's waist. As soon as the dragon was out of sight, however, she dropped all pretense. "I can't believe they did that!"

Faith smiled a little, "I was wondering when you were going to burst."

"I don't care about them using me as a guinea pig, but you… nobody touches you."

"It could have been worse, love."

"Anything could have happened to you!"

"Which is why you followed me, I think." Faith stood on tiptoe and kissed her cheek, "Everything's fine. We're both fine. And we got to witness one hell of a kiss between our past selves."

"Mmm. We did. I used to dream about kissing you like that, you know."

"What? You did?"

A nod, "Oh yes. I often thought about you and I alone somewhere, with nothing but time before us. It would be slow, at first – remember how much your hands would shake when we accidentally touched? It would start like that. And then…" Sylvanas licked her lips.

Faith's eyes got very wide, "And then?"

Sylvanas merely smiled mysteriously before dropping her arm from Faith's shoulder and beginning to walk away from her.

"Sylvanas!" Faith ran after her, hooking her arm through hers and making her laugh. "You can't just start like that and not follow through. That's not fair."

"You know what comes after that."

"That doesn't mean I don't want to hear you describe it."

A gentle kiss, "I can probably show you better than I can tell you."

Those words sent a delicious thrill up and down Faith's spine. "I'm all for you showing me." She waited expectantly.

"Ah, it's no fun if you know it's coming. Besides, we have work to do."

"No fun? You don't like to kiss me anymore?"

"Did I say that? I don't just like kissing you, I love it. I tend to live for it. But there's an edge to kissing you when you don't expect it."

Faith stared at her, "And, what, kissing me when I expect it is boring?"

Sylvanas tried to keep a serious expression but failed, "I didn't say that either. But what I'm thinking about, what I used to daydream about… I don't think we can replicate it now. Not immediately, anyway. Maybe later."

"Evil," muttered Faith.

"You know it. You also know that I would spend my entire life kissing you if Undercity didn't depend on the two of us actually working. We don't need to breathe or anything, so there's technically nothing stopping us from spending eternity locking lips."

"Now there's a fantasy."

Chuckling, they both went back to the Undercity, where they were greeted by Rotvine who had been putting together a supply inventory so that they could replenish what they had lost in the war in Pandaria. Sylvanas forced herself to take over that task, while Faith busied herself in the Magic Quarter, training completely new recruits that had joined the ranks during her absence.

One of them was a young man who had been no older than seventeen when he had been killed. His eyes were black holes in his face, and his hair was a spiky green mess over his head. His left arm was darker in color than his right arm, and two of his fingers on that hand were held together by small steel plates.

His name was Felix Marlowe, and he had just begun his mage training when he had been killed in Southshore by Sylvanas' Blight. It had been difficult to convince him to remain with the Forsaken, but he had slowly begun to adapt to his new undead life.

Except, of course, for the fact that his magic worked a little differently now that he was Forsaken.

"Why is it that we had to be raised, if things aren't going to work the same for us?" he asked, frustrated, as he attempted to shoot a bolt of ice at one of the training dummies in front of him.

"Magic does work the same for undead as it does for the living. But it takes a bit of training, that's all. You were just beginning your magical apprenticeship when you died. This is the time to learn more about magic than ever before. Just concentrate."

"I can only make it snow!" he complained, glaring up at the ceiling, from which fell large and fluffy flakes.

"You'll get there, Felix. Stop trying so hard, you'll make things more difficult for yourself. Magic can't be rushed, it comes at its own pace." She watched as he tried time and again to produce a frostbolt, with no success.

Rotvine took her aside a couple of evenings later.

"You do realize that Felix may never develop the same affinity to magic that we have?" he asked her.

She gave a nod, "I'm aware of that. But you can't say that he doesn't try. He was able to chill some water today, that's progress."

He snorted, "Chill water. Right. You and I can do that with a thought."

"You and I have had a lot more practice with magic. Even if he doesn't find a niche with spellcasting, he's good with potions, and I can always use more potion makers in the Magi Corps."

"Nobody brews potions better than you, though."

"Just because I know my way around potions doesn't mean I don't want anybody else to take over while we're in the field. Besides, I don't want to have to tell him that we raised him for nothing. There's always something to do in Undercity, but Forsaken, especially new Forsaken, need to be kept motivated, or they'll turn, and we can't have that. If he wants to keep up his magical training, I won't stop him."

"There are just more promising recruits than him, that's all. Sylvanas thinks so too."

"Sylvanas knows to trust my judgment when it comes to magic, Carrick. So should you."

"I trust you. I just think that you should let someone else take Felix's training so that you can focus on other things."

"Such as what? My job is to train new recruits, and that's what I'm doing."

Rotvine held up his hands, "All right, all right. I'm sorry. If you want to keep training him, then go ahead and train him. But I personally think you're wasting your time."

"Look, I'll definitely keep that in mind. But it won't hurt anybody to give the kid the benefit of the doubt. We're at peace, more or less, and we don't really have anything to worry about right now. So there's no harm in trying." She shrugged, "If we were in combat conditions, then I would have already passed him on to someone else or given him other tasks. But as it is, I don't mind trying some more. You never know. He might surprise you."

Faith gave him a quick hug and made her way out of the Undercity. She had given herself another job that evening, to go check on the ships in Tirisfal Bay. After a long campaign, some of them were a little beat up, and she wanted to see what could be done for them.

She went to the  _Windrunner_  first, as it was the one that had suffered the most recently.

It was in relatively good condition, though, because shipwrights had already been at work, so there was very little left for her to do. Still, she went into Sylvanas' cabin, refreshing the spellwork there so that everything inside would look new.

"Is that where you hide out now?" asked a low voice that made her jump out of her skin.

"By the Gods, Sylvanas, what are you trying to do, scare me to death?"

Sylvanas arched an eyebrow, "To death? Really?"

"Figure of speech." She recovered from her momentary fright and took a step towards her, meaning to kiss her, but she stopped her.

"What?"

Sylvanas gently pushed her further inside the cabin, shutting the door behind her. Slowly, she pulled the hood off her head and took off her cloak.

Faith watched her, her lips slightly parted. She noticed things in quick succession about her lover: she was wearing fingerless gloves made of the softest possible black deerskin. Her tunic, made of the same material, left several inches of her abdomen exposed. Her leggings were so tight that she could practically see the muscles rippling beneath them.

Sylvanas didn't say anything, although she saw the hot lust rising within Faith. She reached forward, taking her hand and pulling her towards her. In one smooth move, she slammed Faith against the door, pinning her there.

"Shh," she hissed when Faith opened her mouth to say something.

Faith went still, waiting. She knew what was happening, and felt her body quivering under Sylvanas' gaze. She tried to move forward, to take control, but she'd always been the weaker one, physically. Each part of her burned as her lover's eyes roamed over her.

Sylvanas moved closer, nuzzling Faith's neck gently. Her lover emitted some sort of strangled sound, sending a spike of pleasure down Sylvanas' spine. She could feel her need. Her tongue darted out to lick at the snow-white skin that covered her jugular area before dropping a soft kiss there.

She moved on to Faith's ear, kissing along the length of it, almost chuckling when it twitched involuntarily.

"Sylv –."

"Shh," she whispered again, her lips skimming across Faith's forehead. She could smell her lover's scent. The one that reminded her of dead leaves in the water, the one that had become hers when she had died. But there was also the smell of lavender and jasmine. The perfume clung to her skin, so cloying that she could taste it on her tongue.

She pulled away, her eyes searching Faith's. There was no doubt there. Only love, and, as always a soupcon of fear and awe. Fear that they would lose each other. Awe that this was really happening. That they were together.

Releasing Faith's hands, she brought her arms around her waist, pulling her close. Their lips found each other, naturally fitting together. Their mouths opened, and Sylvanas' tongue slowly licked into Faith's mouth. Faith responded, almost shy, beginning to shake in her arms.

She felt wetness on her skin and brought one of her hands to Faith's cheek, gently wiping the tear away as she deepened the kiss.

"I love you," she whispered between mouthfuls.

"I love you," answered Faith. "I love you so much."

They kissed again. And again. Unable to pry themselves away from each other long enough to do anything else, they kept kissing, unaware of the passing of time. Entwined in each other's arms, they both felt at that moment that everything was perfect.

It was dawn when they emerged from the cabin, their arms still around each other's waists. They were completely relaxed, and slowly walked around the bay, watching the sunrise together.

* * *

The walls were shimmering. She was sure of it. Her bones were liquid in her body, seeping out of her and into Faith's mouth as she brought her to completion again.

"Oh… Faith, my love." She cried out without meaning to, colors popping beneath her closed eyelids.

"Yes," whispered Faith. "Yes, let go for me, baby."

Half-sitting, Sylvanas watched as Faith licked her release in long, slow strokes, her tongue disappearing into the folds of her flesh.  "Faith…"

"I'm here."

"Could you come back over here and kiss me?"

Faith chuckled, "You want me to stop what I'm doing? Because I think you're rather enjoying this."

"If you make me come a third time…"

"If." Faith chuckled again, kissing her way up Sylvanas' body, "You know that one of my many talents is to bring you to orgasm with the flick of my tongue."

Sylvanas grabbed her, kissing her thoroughly and using the momentum to turn them around. "You. Are. A. Fiend."

"And you love me for it."

"Gods, yes, I love you."

 _I love you_. Those words never failed to make Faith shiver. They meant more to her now than before, thanks to their little trip to the past. Sylvanas had loved her, she had truly loved her, and she loved her still. It was unreal.

"I know I've accepted the fact that you love me," she whispered, brushing a lock of hair from Sylvanas' forehead, "but I still can't believe it."

Sylvanas laughed softly, "Look, we both could spend years trying to analyze our feelings for each other. The fact of the matter is, we're in love, and that's all there is to it. I'm still amazed when I see you here with me. Every time you touch me, I think that I'm hallucinating it, because we spent so much time longing for each other without being together…"

A kiss, "What did you feel when we finally gave in?"

"After you found me again?" Sylvanas rubbed their noses together before settling down against her, pressing her body to hers from ankle to cheek, "I was angry. Furious, even. You weren't supposed to get under my skin again. I was dead and you were alive, and you were supposed to have moved on."

Faith skimmed her fingertips against Sylvanas' bare back, "You really believed that I would be able to move on after something like that? I spent nearly a century loving you."

"I know you did. And I know better now than to think you can get over me in any way." Kissing the hollow of Faith's throat, Sylvanas prepared herself to break physical contact with her, "Ready?"

"No. I'm never ready to leave your body."

"Where do you come up with these phrases?" asked Sylvanas, pushing herself up and off the bed. Her entire being protested the loss of contact with Faith, but she ignored it, as she ignored the involuntary sound of pain she heard from her lover.

Faith got up as well, "Come up with them? I don't know, love, they just pop into my head." She stood, stepping close to Sylvanas without even meaning to. Catching herself, she veered towards the wardrobe, pulling out a set of black robes and putting them on. They were new, with a low neckline that showed off a bit more than she would have been comfortable with in life.

Sylvanas stared at her, "Feeling bold, lover?"

"What?" Faith's voice was a little too innocent. She looked down, "You just saw me naked, and this is distracting you?"

"It's  _because_  I just saw you naked that what you're wearing distracts me." She looked her over, "I'm lying. That would distract me no matter what."

Grinning, Faith fastened a belt around her waist, "You're talking to  _me_  about distractions, look at yourself!"

"I'm queen of Undercity, I have to look a certain way. You don't have to look at me if you don't want to."

Faith pressed her lips together to keep from laughing, "Since when do I not want to look at you?"

Sylvanas said nothing for a minute, buttoning the tight leather tunic that left half her abdomen bare. Once she was done, she glanced at Faith, "You've always liked the way I look."

"That's an understatement."

A smile, "Indeed. But I wonder how much you loved me because of the way I looked, and how much you loved me because of me."

"Sylvanas  _Windrunner_ , you ask me this after over a century of knowing me? How shallow do you think I am?"

"You were a Quel'dorei, just like me. Beauty was important to you. It still is, in some ways."

"I will admit that in a nation of beautiful people, you shone brighter than any jewel. Of course I noticed the way you looked, it was hard not to, baby, you shamed the sun into hiding every time you rode across the forest. Yes, I love the way you look, even now, but back then, I fell in love with all of you."

Sylvanas just looked at her, not saying anything.

"I loved your generosity, your inner fire, the way you moved, the way you rode, your voice – I had a thing for your voice. You died for Quel'Thalas, Sylvanas, and you didn't even think twice about it."

"I died for you."

Faith nodded, "Yes. But as a whole, you also died for Quel'Thalas. You were evacuating people left and right before you made your last stand. Even then, when you knew you were going to die, you thought about getting other people to safety. That's the part of you I fell in love with." Crossing the room, she put a hand on Sylvanas' face, "I love you still, the same way I did then."

"But not for the same reasons. I've changed a lot since then."

"My love for you is pretty much anchored into my heart. Of course you've changed a lot, we all have. But that doesn't mean that I love you any less now than I did when we were alive."

"You can't love the fact that I'm a dictator."

"You've done a lot of things I disagree with, and yes, that's made me struggle more than you can possibly imagine. But if I have to accept the fact that you loved me then and that you love me now, please accept the fact that I love you as well, no matter what. I'm with you, and I'm staying."


	14. Chapter 14

Rain fell in steady sheets over the world. Lightning streaked the sky, causing the living to look up in alarm, while the dead went about their business, acting as though everything were normal, despite the fact that they disliked that kind of weather.

Coming home from Tirisfal Bay, where she'd supervised the final touches added to a new ship, Faith took off her sodden cloak and dropped it on the floor, "You do realize that I hate being anywhere in the rain, right?" she grumbled at Sylvanas while trying to peel off her dripping gown.

"You're dead, Faith. The rain really shouldn't bother you."

"I hate wet clothes."

Sylvanas smiled, pulling her close and running her hands over her breasts under the guise of shaking water out of the fabric, "But they hug your figure so closely. I'm definitely a fan."

Faith's mouth twitched, "You still need me after everything we did last night and this morning?" She looked around, "Please tell me you've done something with yourself today."

"I did. I got dressed." Sylvanas paused, wiping a trickle of water running down Faith's jaw, "I also went to Orgrimmar to see Vol'jin."

"You saw Vol'jin? How's he doing?"

"Oh, he's doing fine. He summoned us to give us the latest news."

More than two months had passed since Garrosh had escaped his trial. People had been on edge every day, trying to figure out what had happened and how they could hunt him down to answer for his crimes. But for the most part, people had been tentatively trying to rebuild their lives.

Faith licked her lips, "Which are?"

"Not good. Something happened at the Dark Portal yesterday that thoroughly scared the powers that be."

"Come out with it, love. You know I hate surprises unless you're the one giving them to me."

"Well, for one thing, the portal turned red. You know it's been green since you guys went to Outland." Sylvanas used her nails to tear at the wet knots keeping Faith's robes tied. She slid them off Faith's body, lingering as she normally would. "People have been coming out of the portal, but we don't know how long that's been going on." Kneeling, she kissed Faith's exposed thigh.

"People?" she looked down at what Sylvanas was doing, enjoying the view of her there.

"Orcs. The bronze dragonflight is looking into it, but from what we've been able to gather, they're brown-skinned orcs, uncorrupted by the blood of Mannoroth."

Faith knelt to look at Sylvanas in the eye, "Wait, wait. You're saying that Garrosh is in Outland?"

"Yes. Except that we actually think that he's on Draenor, from a few years back."

"He went back in time to Draenor before the Burning Legion invaded it," she whispered. It made perfect sense. It was where he was from, it would have appealed to him to go home.

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that there was a skirmish, and Argent Crusade forces captured one of the orcs, who told them quite a bit. Including the part where Garrosh and Grom Hellscream killed Mannoroth."

"I'm sorry, they killed…  _Mannoroth_? But he didn't die until after the Legion invaded us a third time!"

Sylvanas nodded, "Apparently Garrosh and Kairoz found a way to another timeline, kind of like what Thrall did when he was searching for answers a couple of years ago."

Faith ran a shaking hand over her face, "So, not only has he gone back in time to another planet that's in another dimension, but you're telling me that in addition to all of that, he's gone to an alternate timeline?"

"That would be the crux of it, yes."

It took Faith a couple of seconds to burst into laughter. Sylvanas looked at her, only barely managing to hold on to her own composure.

"I'm glad you find this funny, because we're in trouble here, especially if he's sending people through the portal to attack us."

"Oh, believe me, I'm grasping the situation we're in." Faith wiped at her eyes, "But you've got to admit that we all have a penchant for getting into the worst possible scrapes. I mean, what are the  _odds_?"

"I will grant you that we've been through some pretty weird things over the past few years." She kissed Faith's forehead, "But I've stopped trying to understand things like that. I tend to accept them and move on. It's the only way we can get things done."

"I suppose that trying to figure out what Garrosh and Kairoz did would take me more time than actually following him into Draenor."

" _Following_  him? You're not following him."

"Are you telling me that we're not going to do anything about it?"

" _We_  aren't. Other people will, but you, my darling, are staying here with me, and that's final."

"I am?"

"You are."

"You mean it? You're not going to send me away?"

"Love, I have a hard time letting you out of the room I'm in, much less letting you go to another planet, in another dimension that's not only back in time, but in another timeline."

Sylvanas suddenly found herself with a lapful of Faith, who tucked herself under her chin and wrapper her arms around her. "It's about time."

"About time that what?"

"That we get to spend time together without being interrupted by anybody."

A smile, "Come on, you know you crave the interruptions just so that you can have the pleasure of finding me again."

Faith said nothing, merely staying there, remembering the sound of Sylvanas' heartbeat. She wouldn't have ever moved from that spot had a knock at their door not roused her.

Sylvanas stood, picking Faith up effortlessly and setting her back on her feet before answering the knock, "What is it?" she asked.

"We have a big problem, Sylvanas," said Carrick, bowing.

"Of course, we do, we always have a big problem."

"It's worse this time. Apparently there are hundreds of orcs who come through the new Dark Portal every hour."

"Hundreds of orcs?" exclaimed Faith from the bed as she pulled on dry clothes. "What do you mean hundreds of orcs?"

"Just what I said. The few that arrived beforehand were just a test run. Now, it looks like the invasion of this new Iron Horde has started in earnest."

"He got such a large following in a couple of months?" asked Faith, glancing at Sylvanas. "How is that possible?"

"I guess killing Mannoroth will have gotten him a huge following. But it's also possible that time moves differently there than here." She looked at Carrick, "I suppose Vol'jin wants something from us."

He nodded, "He needs spellcasters, my lady. He requested that the entire Magi Corps go to the Blasted Lands to counter this invasion."

"I don't suppose we have a choice." Sylvanas turned her head towards Faith, "Can you make a portal that big?"

"Well, I won't be alone, so it shouldn't be a problem." Faith shoved her feet into new leather boots and fastened an inky black cloak around her shoulders before grabbing a couple of spellblades.

They were in the Magic Quarter half an hour later, having assembled as many members of the Magi Corps as they could.

Sylvanas looked at her, "Faith, go in with the First Corps. Carrick and I will join you with the others."

Nodding, Faith gave her a peck on the lips, "See you soon, love."

"Yeah, you will."

The mages conjured several portals, enough to take all of them through. Faith stepped through one of them, immediately feeling the stifling heat of the Blasted Lands. She cast a quick spell on herself before looking around at where they were.

They had landed on a large hard-packed plateau on which were two watchtowers: one belonging to the Horde, and the other one belonging to the Alliance. She could see the Dark Portal from where she was, huge and glowing red. Even as she watched, she saw shapes coming from it and engaging troops on their side.

"I don't believe this," cried Felix, who was at her side. "How did he do this so fast? That looks like a full invasion force!"

Faith shook her head, "No it doesn't. Don't forget that the orcs are fighters. They're always ready for battle." As she spoke, she made her way towards where a few Sin'dorei were erecting some tents. With a wave of her hand, she completed the job for them, erecting a separate tent for Sylvanas, which she colored black.

"You're better at conjuring spells than I remembered, Commander Everstone," said a friendly voice behind her.

"Archmage Khadgar!" she exclaimed, turning around. "I didn't know you were here!"

"Garrosh assembling an invading force to attack us seems a pretty good reason for me to show up, I think." He smiled, clapping her on the shoulder, "How are you? I haven't seen you since the last time you were in Dalaran."

"Oh, I've been all right. We were enjoying a little bit of peace when we found out about this, so here we are."

"It shouldn't take too long. I'm pretty sure Garrosh won't be able to send everyone through the portal. We'll be able to get to him in just a bit."

"Unless he's cowering beyond the portal and letting other people do his work. He'll only come out when the battle is at its end."

Portals materialized to her left and she turned her head to see Sylvanas walking over to her. They had only been separated for a brief moment, but she felt herself yearning for her love.

_Stop that, you fool. You can be apart for longer periods than that! You have been already._

She shook her head, and Sylvanas chuckled, having overheard her thoughts. "I won't judge you for it, as long as you don't judge me for thinking the same thing." She nodded to Khadgar, "So, what's going on over here?"

"Skirmishes all over the place. There are Iron Horde orcs as far as the Shattered Shore, but the worgen are taking care of them."

Sylvanas rolled her eyes, "Maybe they'll all be killed in the process. It would save us a lot of work."

"You mean the orcs," said Faith to her.

"Them too."

Faith said nothing, merely squeezing Sylvanas' hand and moving towards the Undercity forces, who were assembling the few supplies they'd been able to gather on short notice.

"I have another wave of mages coming with additional supplies," said Rotvine when she stopped next to him. "I wish we'd had more notice, though. We don't have much."

"Looks like nobody had much notice," remarked Faith, looking at the way they were all haphazardly assembled, with the Horde on one side of the plateau and the Alliance on the other side. From what she could tell, their counterparts had been caught just as unawares.

"Let me guess," said Sylvanas from behind her, "you're going to tell me that we should work with the Alliance."

"I think that I've had enough fighting with the Alliance to last me several lifetimes. I mean, look at what our war did in Pandaria. Sure, we got some new allies, but we divided a race of people. Do you really think that's right?"

"What I think on that point doesn't matter, love."

Faith looked at her, "It does to me."

"All right. Then I'll tell you that we had no choice but to assimilate them into our ranks. Our war was on their shores – there was nothing else we could do. And as far as working with the Alliance is concerned, you know what my position is."

"I do. I just keep hoping that you'll change it."

"Not even if you ask me to, my darling. I love you, and I'd do anything for you, but don't ask me to do that."

"Even if it meant saving my life?"

Sylvanas' face closed off, "Does your life right this second depend on my working together with the Alliance?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Then no. Your life, however,  _does_  depend on keeping me happy, so stop talking about this, will you, please?"

"As you wish, my general." Faith made to walk away from her, but Sylvanas grabbed her hand, pulling her close.

"Before you go, I have something for you." She handed her a box, opening it for her.

Faith's mind went blank for a second.

Inside the box was a delicate black silver ring topped with two small garnets that, eerily, were the exact shape and color of Sylvanas' eyes. The stones were encircled by two twisted bands of silver that formed a heart.

"Sylvanas," she hissed, shocked.

"I'm not proposing," said Sylvanas quickly – a little  _too_  quickly. "I'm just reminding you that I love you. And I'm protecting you. The ring is imbued with the strongest spells the Silvermoon mages could think of, and if you look at the engraving, you'll see what it's for." She took the ring out of the box and turned it so that Faith could see its underside, where tiny engravings mentioned strength, love, and presence of mind in old elven runes.

"It's beautiful," whispered Faith. "You scared me…"

Sylvanas smiled, "If I were to propose to you, my love, you can bet it wouldn't be like this." She ran a finger down her cheek, "Anyway, I thought it would be useful. That, and I knew it would suit you." She slid the ring onto Faith's right middle finger, "I was right."

"Thank you, my love," said Faith, her voice oddly constricted.

"I'm not done yet. Since I can't seem to keep you out of battle, I thought I'd give you these as well. Just robes and stuff, imbued with more spells."

"Please stop, love, you're going to make me cry."

"No, don't do that. Come get changed." She led her into the tent and helped her undress, handing her brand-new black leggings, black robes that split up the sides to allow her freedom of movement, and elbow-length fingerless leather gloves. Faith felt magic emanating from every item. The protective magic seemed to guard her like a lover's embrace, while the offensive magic would enhance her spells.

"This must have cost you a fortune, Sylvanas…"

"I have my own funds set aside for things like this, just like you do. The only reason I didn't buy you new boots and spellblades is because you did that on your own."

"I don't have anything for you, sweetheart."

Sylvanas smiled, "Yes you do. You give it to me every day." She kissed her, "Your love. Believe me when I say that the love you give me is more precious to me than anything else you could possibly have for me." She gently wiped the dusty tear from Faith's cheek, "Don't cry."

"Can't help it…" Faith lost herself in Sylvanas' embrace for a minute, getting her emotions in check. "You could make my heart burst, you know that?"

"I love you, too." She gave her another slow kiss. "Are you ready? I hear Vol'jin outside."

Faith nodded, "Yeah. You're not coming into the battle, are you?"

"Into the battle? Only if things get very bad, love. But if you want me with you, I won't hesitate."

"No, no. We can't fight together, we'll be distracted."

"You're not kidding." Reluctantly, she released her lover and left the tent, nearly colliding with Vol'jin.

"Always together," he murmured softly. "We should all be so lucky in our alliances."

Sylvanas merely arched an eyebrow at him, choosing not to respond to his statement. "We have about two hundred spellcasters at the ready. I also assembled Undercity rogues and warriors for you, should you want them."

"They will be useful," he said. "Thank you, Sylvanas. But I think that the most useful weapon in your arsenal be Faith."

"I won't argue with that. Still, I'd rather not put her in the thick of battle, if you don't mind."

Faith said her name softly, putting a gentle hand on her back.

Sylvanas ignored her, looking at Vol'jin directly. "I don't want her on the front lines."

Vol'jin thought for a minute, before giving a nod, "Stay in the back, Commander. You will coordinate with the leaders."

"With all due respect, Warchief, I can do more good in battle if I'm in the thick of things."

"There be plenty of people to fight without you, Faith," said Vol'jin calmly. "If things get dire, I may ask you to step in, but for now, you can stay with Sylvanas."

"Thank you, Warchief," said Sylvanas, relief appearing on her features. She turned from them, going to the Forsaken troops who were waiting for her.

Vol'jin put a hand on Faith's shoulder, "It is in my best interest to keep Sylvanas happy. She is a formidable leader, and, I admit, her Forsaken are very capable in a battle. Losing her support would be a major blow to da Horde."

"You're not going to lose her support for asking me to fight with the people I've trained, Vol'jin." She looked at him shrewdly, "Are you afraid of her or something?"

"Afraid of her reaction if something happens to you, yes."

Faith shook her head, but knew better than to argue her point. Part of her didn't want to battle anymore, but she wasn't about to watch her people fight for their world without doing anything. She joined Sylvanas with the Forsaken, listening to her speech.

"We  _know_  what Garrosh did to us! He took the coward's way out and escaped justice, but we will not let that stop us from meting out punishment! We  _will_  avenge our dead!"

Faith rubbed at her cheek, aware that she would have blushed had she been able to. Sylvanas turned to her and reached out her hand.

"Stand with me."

"Always," replied Faith without hesitation. She took Sylvanas' hand, squeezing her fingers, "I'll always stand with you, my Lady."

"Even when you don't agree with me."

"Even then."

Sylvanas nodded and gave the order for everyone to get into formation before whispering into Faith's ear that Venom and Winter had arrived. Together, they went to their steeds and climbed on, each conscious of the other.

_I'll keep my mind linked to yours, if you don't mind_ , Sylvanas whispered into her thoughts.

"That would be welcome, love, thank you."

Another nod.  _Here we go_.

All of them began to move at a signal from Vol'jin, just as another wave of orcs coalesced out of the portal. The trolls went first, followed by the Forsaken, Blood Elves, Orgrimmar orcs, tauren, and pandaren, with goblins bringing up the rear. From the other side of the plateau, the Alliance moved as well.

_Stay by my side._

_I'm not moving away from you, Sylvanas._

With their minds connected, both of them felt the underlying fear in their thoughts. It was disconcerting for Faith to feel Sylvanas so worried before her. Not about the battle – Sylvanas had every confidence that they would beat back the Iron Horde. But she worried about Faith. A lot. Her fear was buried deep, but Faith felt it.

_My love, it's going to be fine_.

_Of course it is_ , thought Sylvanas, glancing at her quickly as they took their positions.

_I mean me. I'm going to be fine. And so are you._

Sylvanas didn't respond, merely analyzing the situation before her. Her forces were already beginning to fight. She watched as Rotvine sent a good spell in the general direction of the invading Iron Horde, freezing three of their orcs in place. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Faith sending a protective spell into the air, an arcane barrier that would shield them from incoming arrows. It wouldn't last long, but even a few minutes could be crucial in a battle such as this one.

"Archers, at the ready!" she called.

The Sin'dorei followed her command as well, readying their bows. At her signal, they fired a volley into the orcs, killing quite a few of them.

It went on for a while, both of them giving commands. Faith found that overseeing the battlefield gave her a much better view of what was going on, and if she was surprised when people followed her orders, she didn't show it.

Little by little, they cut down the forces trying to invade them. It almost seemed easy.

Too easy. Until, suddenly, something huge began to roll out of the portal. Something so monstrous that Sylvanas' eyes widened in alarm.

" _What the fel is that_?" cried Faith.

Sylvanas didn't need to answer. What was before them, a tank unlike anything they'd ever seen before, fired a shot into an area where Horde and Alliance forces were fighting.

A second later, a small crater appeared where they had been. There were no bodies there. Not even a drop of blood, from what they could see.

Faith screamed, and she wasn't the only one. Sylvanas felt a momentary panic in her mind.

_Take a second, Faith! You know exactly how to bring that thing down!_

Looking at her, eyes wild, Faith visibly paled.  _I can't!_

Sylvanas shook her head minutely.  _No, love. Not you._

"Oh!" Comprehension dawned on Faith's face. " _Shaman_!" she cried. "Bring that thing down now! Use an earthquake to split the ground beneath it!"

People reacted immediately. Trolls, dwarves, tauren, and, most impressively, Thrall, leapt into the fray, beginning to cast their spells at the ground. Everything shook for a second, before a large fissure appeared beneath the tank. As they watched, the fissure got larger and larger, until finally, it caused the tank to list severely to its right.

"Disable that canon!" shouted Sylvanas.

The shaman kept working, now using boulders to try and knock the canon out of alignment. Faith added her own spells to the ones already focused on the tank, noticing that a small band of goblins and gnomes were quickly racing forward, kegs of explosives in their small hands.

Sylvanas smiled when an explosion blew up the front part of the tank.  _See? When you command the forces from back here, you get to see every possibility before you. We have everything we need to defeat the Iron Horde. It just takes a little presence of mind._

_Thanks, Sylvanas._

A nod.  _You did good, love._

Faith wasn't so sure…


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:  
** So. Here we are. Warlords of Draenor. I think it's my least favorite expansion, so I hope you'll allow me some creative license to change a thing or two! I hope you guys like what I have in mind for this! But for now… Welcome to Draenor!

* * *

The focus on the huge tank had allowed several more Iron Horde forces to come through the portal. The more troops they killed, the more seemed to come forth to take their place. Just how many orcs had Garrosh assembled in the short time he had been on Draenor?

They were outnumbered.

"We need to find a way to close that portal," said Faith.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Sylvanas asked her. "It's open from the other side!"

They looked at each other.

_Faith. Don't. Please don't._

_Sylvanas, if we don't close this portal, thousands of Iron Horde forces will come through, and I don't know if we'll be able to defeat them. Who knows what they'll do to Azeroth!_

Sylvanas shook her head.  _I don't see why you should be the one to do it!_

Faith turned away from her, seeking out Khadgar, who was fighting four orc spellcasters on his own. Thrall was next to him, fighting others who were intent on beheading him.

Sylvanas cursed inside her mind, just as Vol'jin called for them to get into the fight. She watched as Faith kicked Winter into a gallop, speeding into the fray. Forcing herself not to follow her directly so as not to distract her, Sylvanas ordered her archers to fire several volleys at the incoming orcs.

"They just keep coming, Lady Sylvanas," said a tauren paladin who was standing next to her horse, casting as many protective spells as he could manage.

"I know. Keep fighting."

She lost track of time, only dimly aware of what was going on outside of her direct field of vision. She saw some of her Forsaken fall. Sin'dorei dying on the ground. A gnome whose head had been crushed beyond recognition by an orc's mace. And everywhere she looked, Draenor orcs fighting tooth and nail, dying, certainly, but always replenishing their ranks.

Her mind went quiet suddenly, as though someone had switched off everything there.

_Faith?_

No answer.

"Faith!" she screamed. She looked around, eyes wild, but she couldn't see her anywhere. Couldn't feel her. It was as though she had disappeared.

Through the Dark Portal.

* * *

There were thousands of orcs waiting to storm into Azeroth. It was impossible to count them, but Faith estimated that she was looking at about ten thousand brown-skinned fiends, far too many of them to fight on either side of the portal.

"We  _must_  find a way to close this!" cried Khadgar to her.

"I know!" she cried back. She could feel fel magic swirling from beneath her feet, making her a little dizzy. She'd never truly become addicted to it thanks to Sylvanas, and now that she was a Forsaken, she didn't think she was as susceptible as her Sin'dorei counterparts. But she felt the rush of it. It was cloying, promising great power. She could almost taste it.

"They have to be siphoning the energies from somewhere," said Thrall as fighting exploded all around them. "And it's close, I can feel it."

Rotvine was next to her, "You think we can perform a spell to find it?"

"It would have to be very specific, Carrick. I don't know if we can focus enough for it!"

"We have to. It's our only chance."

"They're powering it the same way they did it in Outland," said Khadgar.

"So they're using Draenei?" asked Rotvine.

"They're using something. In any case, I'll let you two figure it out. Oh, take Valla with you."

"Valla?" asked Faith.

A young human woman stepped forward, radiating hostility towards them. "I'm one of his apprentices," she said. "Let's do this."

It wasn't all that difficult for them to find the source of fel magic. They pinpointed it coming from a chamber that was located directly beneath them. Getting to the entrance of the chamber, however, was something else entirely.

Monstrous orcs sat atop snarling wolves, battling anybody who came near. Already, several of them were engaged in a battle with Azerothians, who tried to clear a path for them.

"We'll have to fight our way through."

The prospect wasn't enjoyable, especially when one thought of just how many orcs were between them and their target. But the choice wasn't theirs to make.

"Let's get this over with," said Faith. "Take the wolves out first. It'll make fighting the orcs easier."

"You think?" asked Felix, who had made his way next to her.

Faith didn't answer him, instead making for the first orc she saw. She cast a spell just as the creature's huge black wolf snapped its razor-sharp teeth at her, meaning to kill her with a bite. A second later, it had burst into flames, and, screaming, it took off, shaking off its rider, who crashed to the floor. Rotvine aimed his own spell at him, killing him on the spot.

"That's one down!" cried a man.

"Only about ten thousand to go!" Felix called back to him.

They began to fight, taking out as many orcs as possible. It seemed an impossible task, but little by little, they managed to advance, finally reaching the room where they could feel the fel magic coming from.

They stopped at the sight that greeted them.

"In the name of all that is good…" hissed Faith.

An orc floated in the center of the room, surrounded by Draenei who were slumped over a runed stone floor, some of them clearly dead, their once-blue skin dry and gray. Energy seemed to be leeching out of them and into the orc, who was one of the most monstrous orcs Faith had ever seen.

His skin was a mottled fel green, indicating his corruption, and he had what appeared to be skull-topped spikes protruding from his back, giving him the look of a creature plucked straight from a nightmare.

She had heard of him before, of course. It was Gul'dan, the one who, in their timeline, had been responsible for the initial corruption that had plagued the orcs and caused them to be slaves to the Burning Legion.

"He's huge," said Rotvine.

"Size is no indication of power," Faith told him. "Except in his case…"

Gul'dan saw them, beginning to laugh. "And what do you think you're going to accomplish?" He tugged on the energies swirling about him, turning them fel green and using them to raise a few of the draenei corpses.

Faith and Rotvine reacted immediately, incinerating the corpses where they were, Faith managing to also shield the few draenei who were still alive. "If anything," said Faith to him, "we will stop you from invading our world."

"So naive. You think that by coming here, you have stopped us from doing exactly what we wanted to do?"

Faith and Rotvine looked at each other, and, as one, obliterated one of the glowing runes on the floor. The fel energies around them seemed to quiver. "I don't know what Garrosh told you about me, or about mages in general, but for the most part, we know how to break a spell."

"You will  _never_  get home if you close the Dark Portal!"

A hole of terror seemed to open itself inside Faith at the thought of never going home and never seeing Sylvanas again.

"So be it," she said, her heart breaking. She aimed a spell at the rune on the wall behind Gul'dan, a large Eredun one that pulsed with energy. The rune was an ancient one that represented time, and from what she could see, it was this one that powered the Dark Portal. Her fire spell scorched it, so hot that it caused the stone to split in two.

There was a loud  _crack_ , and Gul'dan cried out once, falling to the floor. "No!" he growled, glaring at them. "You may have closed our door into your world, but you will never stop us!" He waved his hand at the wall in front of him, conjuring a swirling green portal. Looking through it, Faith distinguished green structures, but nothing concrete. "It will be a pleasure for me to kill you later." He stepped through the vortex, which closed immediately behind him.

"Damn," hissed Rotvine.

"Let's help get these draenei out of here," Faith told him. She walked to the feebly-stirring creatures and helped one of them get to her feet. She was skeletal, and obviously in pain. Several fingers on her hands were broken. "I'm going to put a spell on you to help make it easier for you to walk," she told the others, trying to speak in their language and hoping she wasn't telling them she wanted to eat their children. "It won't hurt."

She raised her hands, and the air around them began to shimmer with soft arcane magic. A gentle wind blew through the room, lifting the feeble creatures and allowing them to regain their feet.

"Where did you learn that?" Rotvine asked her.

"I've been working with priests and shaman, and got the idea from them. The winds almost levitate you, which helps you move a lot more smoothly."

"That's amazing! You'll have to teach me that."

"I'd love to. Let's get out of here first."

They ran out of the chamber, Faith pulling the arcane breeze with her so that the draenei would follow. They reached the Dark Portal in time to see the last of the red vortex disappearing and leaving behind nothing but an empty archway.

There was no sign of Azeroth on the other side.

* * *

"NOOOOOO!"

Sylvanas' scream echoed over the battlefield.

The portal was empty. And Faith wasn't back.

For a second, she gave way to complete panic. Faith was stuck.

She was on Draenor.

"No, no, no, no..." she urged Venom forward and made for the empty portal, but knew that there was nothing she could do. The portal had closed so suddenly that an invading orc had been severed in half, his head and bleeding torso in the Blasted Lands, while the rest of him… "Faith…" she whispered.

Tears came suddenly, coursing down her cheeks and leaving trails of dust there before she could even begin to gain any sort of control over herself. Would she ever see Faith again? Was she even alive? Time moved differently where she was… how long had passed already? A day? A week? Would Faith spend years without her?

She turned Venom around, tears still leaving dust on her cheekbones. She saw people still fighting – the Iron Horde forces had really been numerous – and knew that she should help the Horde fight them off, but part of her didn't want to know anything about it anymore.

_Faith, where are you?_

* * *

The magics used to keep the new version of the Dark Portal open had been strange ones. Somehow, they had fused the two timeways together for a while, allowing them to run at the same speed.

But as soon as the portal had closed, things had changed, the timeways picking up a new pace. A casual observer would have noticed that ten minutes of time on Azeroth were equivalent to an hour passing on Draenor. Someone making precise calculations would have figured out that an entire day passing on Azeroth meant that six days had passed on Draenor.

By the time Sylvanas made it back to the leaders of Azeroth, three hours had gone by for Faith and the others.

Exhausted, they had fought their way out of the portal area and had found a guarded chamber in which they had taken refuge.

Faith was taking inventory of the supplies they had, and making a list of everyone who was with them.

"A surprising amount of us were able to make it through the Dark Portal," Faith told Rotvine as they shuffled bits of parchment around. She looked at the chamber they were in, guessing that there were over two hundred members of the Horde and the Alliance huddled there, with another hundred or so outside, keeping guard and trying not to snarl at one another.

"How are we supposed to keep the Iron Horde from invading us with just three hundred people? Not to mention the fact that the Burning Legion has just arrived in this world, and that doesn't bode well for anybody."

Faith didn't relish the idea of having to fight on two fronts. They certainly couldn't do it alone. "Remember what we did in Pandaria?"

"You mean when we nearly destroyed the land? That went over real well with the natives, I remember." Rotvine rolled his eyes, "Find another example."

"No, I mean when we made friends there. We helped the Hozen, and the Alliance helped the Jinyu. We even got the pandaren to join us."

Khadgar joined them, "Go on."

"Well, helping the draenei here seems like a logical choice, considering the fact that they're members of the Alliance in our world."

"Members of the Alliance here could help them, sure, but I don't think they're going to accept help from green-skinned orcs." Rotvine tapped his chin thoughtfully, "It's worth a try, though. Is there anybody else who could be of help to us?"

"I don't know. I'm really not an expert on this planet. If all of the orc clans have united together under one banner, we're going to have a lot of trouble with them."

Khadgar gave a nod, "You're on your way with the draenei, considering the few that you helped out now. I don't know how long they'll last, but our priests are seeing to them now." He conjured a goblet of water and drained it in a gulp, "In the meantime, we're also going to have to figure out a way to get home. I don't fancy being stuck here to witness another Burning Legion invasion."

"I don't think anybody wants to see that," said Faith in a low voice. "We should get out of here."

"How? The Iron Horde is everywhere."

"Maybe I kin help with that, lassie," said a familiar voice.

"Haldren!" cried Faith, surprised when her paladin friend joined her. "What are  _you_  doing here? I didn't know you were even around!"

"Oh yeah. I came with a group of paladins that include Lady Liadrin."

"Liadrin's here? Where?"

"Just outside. She found an injured orc and is helping him."

"One of our orcs?"

The dwarf shook his head, "No. He had a banner with him with a wolf's head on it."

"The Frostwolf Clan!" exclaimed Rotvine just as Faith's eyes grew wide. "Of course! Wait, they didn't side with the Iron Horde? I thought they would have done."

"Remember your history, Carrick. The Frostwolves didn't drink the blood of Mannoroth in the timeline that we know – they opposed the ones who did, and, don't forget, Durotan and Draka were killed afterwards for not being loyal to Gul'dan. I don't think that they would have agreed to the formation of the Iron Horde. I may be completely wrong here. Thrall would know better than me."

"He's just outside, speaking to the orc now," said Haldren. "But I think yeh're right, lassie. My orcish is bad, but I thought I understood that they've been used like the draenei."

"Using their own kind… and then we wonder why humans think the Horde is barbaric…" Faith shook her head, "We could definitely talk to the locals and see whether there's any way we could go to set up some kind of base."

"That's an idea," said Khadgar. "We might as well get that done."

"Let's go talk to the survivors," said Rotvine.

Faith nodded and left the chamber, rolling up the bits of parchment and putting them in her cloak pocket, which she sealed with a spell. She found Liadrin with the injured orc laying on a bed of leaves, his brown skin nearly gray with shock. "How is he?" she asked in Thalassian.

Liadrin shook her head, "Not well. I don't think he's going to make it."

"Did he say anything?"

"Just that people from his clan were held prisoner along with several draenei in this area. They've been used for I don't know what kinds of experiments, but knowing Garrosh…"

"Right. It can't be good."

Faith walked to the orc, kneeling in front of him. He didn't speak, but looked at her imploringly.

"You're going to be okay," she said quietly. "You will soon walk with your ancestors, and they'll be proud of everything you've done to help your people." She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Will… you… keep them safe?"

"Yes. We will do everything we can to get them to safety. You need not worry about that, young warrior."

Thrall knelt next to her and performed a spell over the orc. Pale green light, as soothing as a spring breeze, came from his fingers and settled over the injured warrior, who sighed a closed his eyes. A moment later, his breathing ceased, and he was still.

"He was strong," murmured Thrall.

"A good warrior, I think." Faith stood, "If we have time to bury him, we should. Make sure we have something of his to bring back to his clan, if we manage to find them."

"Does anybody know where they are?" asked Liadrin.

Nobody answered. Faith looked at the landscape that surrounded them, but nothing seemed familiar to her, although she figured that they were in what they knew to be Hellfire Peninsula in their timeline. She shuddered, knowing what would become of this land if the Burning Legion completed their invasion.

"Well, we can't stay here," she said finally. "He mentioned that draenei and other orcs were being held captive by the Iron Horde. I suppose that releasing them would benefit us all, not to mention that it would swell our ranks."

"Unless the people we rescue end up being as injured as this warrior here," said someone else, a Sin'dorei Faith had never seen before. "In that case, it'll be difficult for us to do anything useful with them."

"We can't leave them to suffer at the hands of the Iron Horde anyway," said Thrall. "We should send some scouts around to see what we can find."

"And we'd better do it fast. The Iron Horde will be coming this way soon."

Faith nodded, "We'd better get started then. Talk to your troops and tell them what we have in mind. We'll have to move quickly if we want to avoid a battle that'll get all of us killed." She closed her eyes, wishing Sylvanas were with her to tell her what to do. For her part, she could only guess at the best course of action.

As she watched, Liadrin went to some of the paladins that had come through the portal with her. Thrall carried the dead orc to the side of the path, digging a grave for him and saying a few words of valor in his honor. It was the best he could do.

* * *

**Author's note 2:  
** Hi again!

Let me know what you think! I'm curious to have your feedback on this!


	16. Chapter 16

Sylvanas looked over the list of the people who were dead or missing. Faith's name was there, but she was sure that her lover wasn't one of the deceased ones. She just wasn't there with her at that moment.

Rotvine wasn't there either, which didn't surprise her.

"How many Forsaken are you missing?" Lor'themar asked her.

"A few, including Faith and Carrick."

"And you think they're all right?"

She pointed to the pile of bodies that rested some ways away from them, "Until their dead bodies show up there, I won't believe that they're not perfectly safe." Shaking her head, she added notes next to each of the names. She had seen Liadrin going through the portal, followed with other paladins, and was only slightly comforted by the fact that Faith had additional familiar faces with her.

"You think we'll see them again?"

Merely glaring at him, Sylvanas didn't bother answering that question. She couldn't bring herself to think of what she would do if Faith were to be forever lost on Draenor.

She just couldn't.

* * *

At least forty other people had joined them, a mix of draenei and orcs, all of whom had been tortured in various ways. Most of them had minor injuries that their healers managed to handle easily, but there were four people who had been tortured so badly that all the healers could do was sit there and watch them die.

"I was afraid of this," said the Sin'dorei who had spoken earlier to Faith. "We should have just left them."

"We are not going to leave anybody behind, do you understand me? Now, stop your complaining, and help the others figure out where we're going to go next."

"I'm just telling you how I feel, Commander. Sylvanas would agree with me."

"Lady Sylvanas would trust my judgment in such matters. As should you."

"Delaen, that's enough," said Liadrin. "Faith is right. We're not going to leave people behind, especially not when their companions are waiting for us to help them."

"But there's nothing we can do here."

"That doesn't matter. We can let them die in peace, and in as little pain as possible."

Someone snorted behind Faith, "I never knew the Forsaken to have any kind of  _respect_  for anybody's life. Don't you serve a queen bitch who kills everyone arbitrarily?"

"I'll kill  _you_  arbitrarily if you dare talk about Sylvanas that way again," said Faith through gritted teeth, barely looking at Valla. The girl had been a pain in her ass ever since they had gotten away from the Dark Portal. Her comments had been made in a low voice, but Faith had heard each and every one of them.

Valla snorted, "You wouldn't have the guts in front of everyone."

Faith rounded on her, "Apparently I've found myself an eager volunteer to go scout the activity down the hill. Why don't you go with her, Delaen?"

The two of them stared at her, incensed. "You can't tell us what to do."

"Watch me."

Delaen glanced at Liadrin, who shook her head.

"Your commanding officer has given you both an order," she said simply. "I suggest you follow it, or face the consequences."

For a second, it looked like both of them were going to refuse. But in the end, they went, walking cautiously down the hill. Faith watched their progress before ordering Felix and Haldren to follow them.

"At least some people listen to me without question," she said, shaking her head.

"The Alliance has problems with you. You can't really blame them," Liadrin told her. "It's nothing personal, I don't think. It's your relationship with Sylvanas."

"My relationship with… what does that have to do with anything?"

"This is just some of the things I've heard ever since the Theramore attack. They like you fine, but they don't appreciate the fact that you're so loyal the Sylvanas. She's a threat."

"Liadrin –."

"I get it, okay? I've been in love, I know what it's like to love someone so much that you don't see what they're like."

Faith pursed her lips, facing the paladin, "I know exactly what Sylvanas is like. What do you take me for, some blind maiden who sees life through rose-colored glasses or something? I'm well aware that the Banshee Queen is a tyrant. She scares people, Horde and Alliance alike." She shrugged, "She wasn't always like that. You knew her before she was killed and raised."

Liadrin nodded, "I did. And she was a good person back then. An amazing leader. I wasn't one of her rangers, but I would have followed her to the death had she asked me to. I wouldn't do that now unless I had no other choice. Some of the things she's done… Faith, how can you be with her?"

"I owe her everything. Everything I am is because of her." She held up her hand before Liadrin could say anything else, "Now isn't the time and place to talk about this. We have more pressing things to do."

She was right. They had to organize the survivors and divide out their supplies, not to mention figure out where they were going to go now.

Felix came to find her a few minutes later.

"Commander," he said, "we found several more prisoners held by the Iron Horde, both orcs and draenei. A few of them are being held in some sort of burning enclosure – we think that they're officers."

"Relay that information to Thrall and Khadgar, please, Felix. I'll set up a group to get the prisoners out of there."

She did exactly that, asking for volunteers and deciding to go with them as they went down to the bottom of the hill. Altogether, fifteen of them went down the hill, including Haldren and Felix.

Most of the prisoners that they could see were held at various points, each of them chained to a tree, their exposed backs showing evidence of merciless whipping. The first person they came to, a female draenei, could barely stand once their removed her chains. But Thrall, who was with them, quickly healed her wound and sent her towards where all the others were waiting.

For ten minutes, they freed prisoners in that manner, killing members of the Iron Horde quietly, but efficiently, until they reached the enclosure Felix had spoken to about.

Several more people were being held prisoners there, some of whom looked to be in very bad shape indeed.

"What exactly is that thing?" Faith asked Thrall, nodding towards a strange creature that almost looked like a hydra, but was, in fact, a plant.

"It's called a mandragora… I never thought I would see one for myself. The species were extinct when Outland was formed. I've only heard about them."

Faith gave a nod, trying to figure out how they were going to get the prisoners out of there without alerting the orcs who were guarding the area. From what she could see, they were members of the Shattered Hand clan, a clan who prided itself on its ability to resist the pain of a severed hand, which was later replaced by a weapon.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," she said in a low voice. "We're going to have to go in there."

Thrall nodded grimly, "Whenever you're ready."

She motioned for Carrick, who came to her immediately. "Use fire to distract the orcs," she whispered to him. "Thrall and I will take care of the prisoners."

He nodded, and a minute later, several of the orcs erupted into bright red flames while others found themselves attacked by bursts of holy Light. Working quickly, Faith and Thrall called upon ice and water to shatter the fire enclosure that surrounded the remaining Frostwolf orcs and draenei. One of the orcs, who had been held aloft by some kind of spell, came crashing down on top of Faith who tried breaking his fall.

" _Drek'Thar_?" she asked, incredulous, wincing as she got to her feet. She didn't see how it could be the same orc, but it really seemed to be him.

"Do… do I know you?" asked the blind shaman, looking in her direction.

"We can talk about that later. Can you walk?"

He nodded, "With a guide, yes."

"Come then," she said, helping him stand.

"We're going to have company!" cried Thrall.

Faith turned, seeing that quite a few Shattered Hand orcs making their way towards them. Rotvine and the others were barely keeping them at bay with arcane barriers. Calling out a spell, she added her magic to the barrier, strengthening it. "That won't hold them long. Run!"

She and Thrall supported Drek'Thar between them, noticing that he was fairly strong despite what he had been through. Accompanying them was a tall male draenei that seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place him. She didn't know enough about the draenei to remember each of them on sight.

"Heal the prisoners!" called Thrall as they arrived back to their makeshift camp on top of the hill. "The Shattered Hand clan is right behind us!"

"You thought we didn't have enough to worry about?" Khadgar asked him as healers helped with the injured. "You thought you'd bring other enemies directly to us?"

"We didn't have a choice," he said. "And from what I can see, the only way forward is through their village."

There was a snort from the side, and someone stepped forward, a night elven woman Faith had never spoken to before, but knew by reputation, Cordana Felsong, one of the wardens who had worked with Maiev Shadowsong as a jailor for Illidan Stormrage.

"So what you're telling us is that we're either going to be killed with the Iron Horde at our backs, or by the Shattered Clan at our front. Pretty bleak, don't you think?"

"I think that our choice is rather clear," said Liadrin. "We might as well fight the Shattered Hand. At least it'll give us a chance."

"We can't just keep running, though, we need a plan."

"We have one," said Faith. "We need to destroy the Portal, or they're going to find another way to open it. If we destroy it completely, we can make sure that the Iron Horde won't invade Azeroth at all."

"And you really think that it's something we can do?"

It was Khadgar who answered. "Of course we can. We have everything we need right here."

"We do?"

"Did you see the huge tank the Iron Horde rolled into Azeroth? We can use that. We just need to get our hands on one."

Even Faith was skeptical about this plan, "Is that all?" she asked, eyes wide.

"I'm not saying it'll be  _easy_. But it's something that we need to do. And we can do it. Just not right here. We have to move."

An eerie laughter seemed to wash over them, an orc's laughter, carried over by shamanistic winds. "Come now, do you really think that you can beat us? We outnumber you, and we have the advantage of knowing this land! You need to get past us, and there is no way we will allow you to do this unless you agree to a few… terms."

"Terms," muttered Faith. "That sounds promising."

"Come into my arena and fight a few of my warriors. If you make it, I will let you go."

"It's a trap," said Thrall immediately.

Khadgar nodded, "It is, but maybe we'll be able to kill enough of them to make it out of there alive. They don't know how many of us are here."

"Nor do  _we_  know how many of  _them_  are out there," said Felix. "You can't seriously be considering this."

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice," said Faith. Her tone was grim.

* * *

The fighting had stopped. She was certain that members of the Iron Horde had evaded them, but from what she could see, most of the invading orcs had been killed or captured.

The orc got to her feet, groaning as she probed a wound at the back of her head. Had she not been a death knight, the injury would have killed her. She felt horrible for not having been able to follow Faith through the portal. But there had been too many people around her. She'd been forced to fight for her life, and one of them had clipped her from behind. It was all she remembered.

The portal was closed now, and she could see people, Sylvanas among them, packing up tents and supplies, while others built some kind of palisade that would encompass the towers the Horde and Alliance had already built.

"It's a garrison in case the Dark Portal opens again," said Overlord Saurfang when she finally reached them. "We want to be certain not to be taken unawares."

"Clever."

"You haven't seen Faith, by any chance, have you? Sylvanas just about lost her mind earlier."

A snort, "How can you tell?"

Saurfang laughed for a moment. "Did you?" he asked again.

"I did."

"You'd better go tell her then."

Sylvanas saw her and fairly leapt towards her. "Garia!"

"Your Majesty," said Garia, bowing her head once, despite the fact that the action was making her dizzy. "I saw Faith going through the Dark Portal earlier. She was fine. Fighting, but fine."

"You're positive?"

"Yes. I guess she and the others didn't have a chance to come back before the portal completely closed, or they would have done so. You know Faith wouldn't have left you without a damn good reason."

Sylvanas gave a short nod. She knew. She didn't like it, but Garia's reasoning was sound. "I suppose you can come back to Undercity with us if you'd like."

Garia considered this. "All right." She swayed a little on her feet, and Sylvanas automatically reached out to steady her.

"Get some healing, Garia. Faith would never forgive me if I let you die."

"Faith would forgive you anything. It wouldn't be the first time."

Sylvanas smiled a little. It was true. Faith had forgiven her pretty much everything over the past few years. "She loves me too much for her own good. People tell her that all the time."

"Doesn't that mean it's up to you to be good? For her sake?"

A snort, "I suppose so, but we both know how difficult it is to be truly good after what happened to us." She thought about it for a minute, "Faith did make me a better person, though, in a thousand ways." She looked towards the empty portal, trying to picture where Faith was and what she was doing. Already her heart ached at their separation…

* * *

The arena was set in a large semicircle, much like the arena of Orgrimmar. The stands were filled with Shattered Hand orcs who were grinning in anticipation of carnage.

Khadgar had left half their force hidden in the jungle in case things went wrong, but he hadn't anticipated just how many enemies were around them. There must have been over a hundred orcs in the stands, along with another hundred in the arena, waiting to engage them.

A shiver ran through him. Would they make it? He looked at the grim determination on Faith's face, and knew she was thinking about Sylvanas. He felt awful about having separated the two of them. It hadn't been his intention at all, although he knew that their chances of survival were much increased with her there.

A large, gray-skinned orc stepped forward on the highest step of the stands. It was Kargath Bladefist, the leader of the Shattered Hand clan, and he looked more terrifying in person than engravings on Azeroth had ever given him credit for.

"Khadgar, what in Undercity's name have you gotten us into?" asked Faith, gritting her teeth just as he began to speak.

"So," he said, sounding quite amused. "You came. I wonder if you're going to make it through my little test."

"Which is?" wondered Khadgar.

"Kill every single one of my fighters on the arena floor, and you will get to leave."

_Oh, this could go over really well_ , he thought, the sarcasm of his own voice echoing in his mind. Next to him, Faith looked mutinous, but there was a strange worried gleam in her orange eyes. She was thinking exactly the same way he was, that the orcs from the stands would join their comrades the moment things started going bad for them.

But there was nothing they could do. If they tried to leave without a fight, the orcs would fall on them like heavy maces and never let them go.

"Ready whenever you are," he said pleasantly.

Bladefist began to laugh, thrusting his bladed arm into the sky.

The orcs cried out in unison and leapt on their closest opponents. But Faith was ready for them. The second Bladefist had started to laugh, she had thrown out a shimmering arcane shield that had encompassed each of them, which gave them an additional three seconds to ready themselves for the fight, and which effectively saved them.

They battled for what felt like an hour. Bladefist laughed, even when his own orcs fell, yelling that they weren't worthy of being in his clan if they couldn't take care of their opponents.

But they couldn't go on forever. Faith felt the first signs of fatigue after she and Thrall dispatched a particularly vicious orc whose bladed arm was covered in blood. More of them kept coming, and she suddenly saw that the stands were slowly emptying.

"I could watch you rats fight for hours!" laughed Bladefist.

"I'm afraid we haven't got that kind of time!" called out Khadgar. "Faith!"

She ran to him and took his hand. As one, they performed a massive spell that froze their enemies in place. It wouldn't hold them long, but was more than enough to allow them to run.

"Let's go!" cried Faith. She heard sounds of fighting coming from outside the arena they were in, and her heart dropped. She raced for the exit, Felix right next to her, finding that their forces had been forced to come out of hiding. Several of their fighters lay dead or dying on the ground, having been taken by surprise by the Shattered Hand attack.

"Make for that cave!" said Khadgar to her, pointing to a hole in what appeared to be a mountain. "Go! I'll follow you!"

Nodding, Faith cast as many spells as she could to free her allies from the fighting. Already, the other orcs were coming out of the arena, still hacking at the ice that had encased their legs.

"They're going to be on us in a minute if we don't get out of this!" yelled Felix.

"We'll make it!" said Faith. "That's a tunnel, not a cave!"

They made it inside, followed by Khadgar and the others, some of whom were retching because of their efforts.

"Help me… collapse… the entrance!" gasped the archmage.

They waited for the final draenei to reach them before they started performing spells to block the entrance of the tunnel with huge boulders. The last boulder slammed in place, crushing a Shattered Hand orc who had been faster than the rest of his clan.

They were plunged into darkness.


	17. Chapter 17

A red flame flickered in the darkness, highlighting the white hand that held it. The flame grew in size, turning a pale sparkling orange before it was levitated to float above them, illuminating them all.

"Thank you, Faith," said Khadgar, looking around. Scared eyes looked back at him. Some people were injured, one of them critically so. Liadrin saw him, and immediately began to heal him, calling the Light to her. The brightness of the spell threw the man's injuries into sharp relief, causing another paladin to kneel in front of him.

This paladin was an elf with long blonde locks and bright eyes. His features were beautiful, angular yet soft. Faith had only met him a handful of times, when he'd been little more than a newborn child, and as she remembered this, she wondered why she'd never sought him out before, despite the fact that he was a member of the Alliance.

"Arator…" she whispered.

* * *

_A scream filtered down to them. They all jumped, looking at each other, eyes wide and excited._

_Sylvanas sat on one of the couches in the living room, chewing on her left thumbnail. Behind her, Vereesa paced, jumping every time there was a sound._

_Faith moved away from the fireplace and went to Sylvanas, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. Sylvanas reached up to lace their fingers together without even thinking about it. The gesture was forbidden, but at that moment, nobody noticed. Pulling Faith down to sit next to her, she looked at her briefly, noticing the way her cheeks were flushed._

_There was another scream, drawn out. A minute later, they all heard the tiniest cry._

_A baby's cry._

_Bursting into spontaneous cheering. Faith and Sylvanas hugged each other while Vereesa burst into tears. Velariel looked at her husband, breathing out a sigh of relief, tears glistening in her own eyes._

" _You're an aunt, Sylvanas!" said Faith, grinning._

_Sylvanas' smile lit up the room more than any sunray could. She looked into Faith's eyes, so happy at that moment that she could have burst with it. So much had happened, so many people had died… and now, there was a new life, and she would get to share the happiness that came with it with the person she loved most in the world._

_She opened her mouth, meaning to say just that, but instead, habit won out. "Let's go see!"_

_Grabbing Vereesa's hand on the way, the three of them raced to the upper floors of Windrunner Spire, nearly colliding with Alleria's mate, Turalyon, who looked pale and terrified, but also brimming with joy._

" _A son," he said._

" _A boy?" asked Sylvanas, her eyes wide with wonder. She released Faith and Vereesa to hug the man in front of her. "Congratulations, brother," she said quietly._

_She didn't say those words lightly. She didn't speak of it often, but the loss of her brother Lirath still weighed heavily upon her. Faith had seen her staring at his portrait more than once, looking lost._

_Gently, she reached out to rub her back. Feeling it, Sylvanas hitched in a small breath as she pulled away from Turalyon, before looking at her. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears, their glow dimmed minutely._

_Emotions warred within her. Joy at knowing she had a nephew, grief over her brother, and love. An endless pool of love directed not only towards her family, but towards Faith. Her heart nearly shattered with it. Swallowing, she took Faith's hand again, "Come on."_

_They reached Alleria's room, finding her laying on her bed, pale skin glistening with sweat. Blood had stained the sheets a dark red, but that didn't matter, for in her arms, lay a tiny, perfect little creature._

_She pulled back a corner of the blanket, showing them the top of the newborn's head._

" _He's so tiny…" breathed Vereesa, tears still drying on her cheeks._

_Sylvanas gently hugged her older sister, "He's beautiful," she said gently, runny a finger over one of the baby's small tapered ears. Her voice was quivering, and she turned away quickly, lest her sisters see her cry. Belatedly, she realized that Faith was watching her, but she knew that she wouldn't judge her tears._

" _We are naming him Arator," said Alleria._

" _A lovely name," said Faith, going to Alleria and kissing her cheek. "Congratulations."_

_Sylvanas stared. Faith had just kissed Alleria's cheek. It had been done with an ease that she herself had never experienced with the younger elf, and she found a seething and wholly unwelcome jealousy coming over her._

" _Welcome to the world, Arator," she said softly._

* * *

Arator barely looked up when Faith said his name. He had seen her, certainly, and had heard of everything she had done over the past few years, but to him, she was just another member of the Horde.

He heard her giving orders, and vaguely noticed that people obeyed her almost without question, going to explore the tunnels at her request. He only looked up when one of the scouts came back with a draenei child, who appeared to be crying.

"I think I scared her," muttered the scout, a Forsaken.

"They're not used to seeing undead here, Felix," Faith told him. "Not yet." She knelt in front of the child, taking her hand and talking to her quietly. Far from being comforted, the child began to cry more, and launched herself at Faith's, burying her head in her shoulder, her little body shaking with sobs.

"What's she saying?" asked Felix.

"She hasn't seen her parents in days," answered Khadgar. "The orcs came to her village and burned it to the ground, bringing any survivors in here. She says she heard her mother screaming once, and that it was very loud."

"There are orcs in the tunnel?" asked Faith sharply. She was speaking in slow Draenei language, reminding him that she had made it a point to study as many languages as possible so as to be able to communicate with all the races on Azeroth.

The little girl nodded.

"We can't let them find us here. Mages, prepare a magical barrier that will keep us hidden for a while until we're fit for battle. The rest of you, look through whatever supplies we managed to bring with us and see whether you can organize some bedding for the wounded. Healers, please treat everyone's injuries as best you can."

Arator watched as people began doing exactly as she said. For her part, Faith conjured pitchers of water and several goblets for everyone, along with what appeared to be buttery loaves of bread. His stomach immediately began to rumble at the thought of eating, despite knowing that conjured food wouldn't hold him for long.

"That's pretty simple fare," said Valla to her. She looked at the bread as though it were something unpleasant under her shoe.

"Be grateful she can conjure any food at all," he found himself snapping. "The more complicated a conjuring has to be, the less of it there will be for everyone."

"Peace, Arator," she said to him before turning back to the human mage, "If you can do any better, you are welcome to try. But remember that we have many mouths to feed."

Valla's cheeks reddened, "I can't conjure food or water yet."

Faith blinked, but didn't say anything. Only a tightening of the muscles around her eyes showed her irritation. She kept her cool, however, and went about using a spell to cut the bread in equal pieces for everyone. When Arator came forward to get a slice, he saw that the bread was hearty, filled with little Thalassian nuts. The taste reminded him of meals he had shared with high elves in Dalaran. As a matter of fact, it was the exact same bread Vereesa made for him when he went to visit her.

"Thank you," he told her quietly. He really looked at her, noticing for the first time that there was this look in her eyes. A haunted look. For a moment, he wondered whether there was anything wrong, but then it hit him.

She missed Sylvanas.

* * *

Sylvanas landed in Undercity, feeling a familiar sense of loss. As the portal closed behind her, her heart cried out, wanting her to go back to the Blasted Lands and find a way to get to Faith, no matter what it took.

She nearly listened to it.

_Stop it. She's fine._

Well, of course she was fine. There was no question of her  _not_  being fine.

"Oh, my love, how long will you be away from me this time?" she asked the air around her. Her eyes began to itch and burn, a sure sign that she was going to cry, but she shook her head sharply, swallowing whatever emotions were threatening to come to the surface.

Crying would just make it too real.

She made her way towards the Royal Quarter, ending up, not in the throne room, but in her chambers.

Faith wasn't there.

Suddenly collapsing on the bed, Sylvanas released her tears, sobbing into a pillow that smelled of her lover. Her heart broke once, twice.

She was alone.

* * *

Faith looked up, a frown on her face.

"What is it?" Rotvine asked her, coming to stand next to her.

"I… I don't know. I think… I think Sylvanas is in pain."

"What do you mean? You can feel her?"

She shook her head, "No. I don't feel her the way I would on Azeroth. I don't know how to explain it. It's like when you know that something bad is going to happen."

"You think something's happened to Sylvanas?" asked Rotvine, looking alarmed now.

"Look at my demeanor. If I thought that something had happened to Sylvanas, I would be fighting tooth and nail to return to her. No, I just think that she's in pain, and I wish I were there to help her."

"You're probably feeling your own pain at being away from her," said Felix, having overheard her. "I'm sure Sylvanas is fine."

Faith looked at him, her eyes wide and her expression scared, lost. For a moment, she didn't look like Blackfire, the mage that had sent even the most hardened members of the Scourge running for cover. In that instant, she looked like, quite simply, a young girl who missed her lover and who was afraid to never see her again.

"Take a second," said Rotvine. "Take a deep breath and compose yourself."

"Take a deep breath," repeated Faith. "Really?"

Rotvine chuckled, "All right, so don't take a deep breath. But think about it. The portal is closed. Whatever members of the Iron Horde made it through before that are more than enough for our forces to handle. She  _fine_."

A nod, "I know she is." But she couldn't shake the feeling that Sylvanas needed her for something. No matter which way she looked at it, the two of them had never been so completely cut off from each other, not since they'd found each other again. Even when she had gone to Outland, they'd been able to write to each other. But now, she didn't truly know whether the two of them would ever be able to talk to each other again.

The thought was unbearable.

"All right, everyone," said Khadgar quietly, looking at them all. "Here's what we're going to do." He cleared his throat, "According to the scouts Faith sent out, this isn't just a tunnel, it's some kind of underground temple that orcs use to call on some dark forces."

"Are they still Shattered Hand orcs?" asked someone.

Khadgar shook his head, "No. But Felix heard one of the orcs mention the name…" he paused. "Ner'zhul."

Ner'zhul.

Faith's world slipped alarmingly, and she found herself suddenly supported by Rotvine and Felix. "Did you say…Ner'zhul?" she asked faintly, feeling like she was going to scream, burst into tears, or be sick, she wasn't sure which.

Khadgar looked at her sadly, knowing exactly what had gone through her mind. "This isn't the Ner'zhul that turned into the Lich King, Faith."

"Yet…" she whispered. Her head was spinning. Her body shook from head to toe.

"By the Light, Faith, sit down…" Rotvine helped her sink to the ground, rubbing her back slowly. He looked stricken, and wasn't the only one. Most of the Forsaken, humans, and Sin'dorei who were with them looked the same.

"Wh-what do we know about this version of Ner'zhul?" asked a woman.

"He is the warlord of the Shadowmoon Clan," answered Drek'Thar. "They mostly reside in Shadowmoon Valley. From what we understood, he and his clan did not want to join with Grommash Hellscream, but they were not given a choice."

Khadgar nodded, urging the blind shaman to go on.

"We only heard about a power they are harnessing. We call it… the Shadow."

"The Void?" asked Liadrin abruptly.

"No…" murmured Khadgar. "Surely not. They wouldn't…"

"It's Ner'zhul," said Faith, feeling sicker still. "He would."

"He could bring about the destruction of Draenor with that. He won't even need Gul'dan. We can't let it happen."

"You propose we stop him," said Liadrin.

"That's not what we came here to do, though, is it?" asked Valla, suddenly appearing next to Faith.

"While we're here, we might as well help the people of Draenor keep their planet. We've seen what it turned into because of Gul'dan and the Burning Legion. If we can stop it from happening again, I think that we should definitely take that chance."

"We have enough to do with the Iron Horde without having to worry about the Burning Legion too," argued Valla, glaring at Faith.

Faith stood, drawing herself up to her full height before walking towards the girl and not stopping until she was close enough to kiss her, "You listen to me, and you listen to me very carefully,  _little girl_. We came here to stop the Iron Horde, yes, but if we're going to be stuck on this planet, and it looks like we will be, we sure as hell are not going to do it with the Burning Legion falling on us. So you will follow orders and keep your mouth shut, is that understood?"

Valla opened her mouth to say something, but Faith snarled, "I  _said_  keep your mouth shut! From now on, you will keep your opinions to yourself unless you can come up with something constructive to help us. I do not want to hear you otherwise. One word against any officer here and you'll be sorry." She raised her voice, "That goes for all of you! I understand that you're scared and homesick, and that you probably didn't want to come here in the first place. But we're stuck together, and we might as well make the best of it."

She turned away from the girl and went to Khadgar, "I don't suppose we have a map of this area so that we can figure out where we are."

Khadgar shook his head, "I'm afraid not. I remember the geography of Outland well enough, but this is Draenor. What we know doesn't come close to what this world was before its destruction."

"We're going to have to find a friendly area to regroup in, and this isn't it. To be honest, I can't even figure out where we are."

"It's… it's Hellfire Peninsula, isn't it?" ventured a gnome warrior slowly.

"It is," agreed Faith with a nod. "But as far as I remember, the area behind the Dark Portal was obliterated in Outland, so we don't know what was there."

"In any case," said Liadrin, "we cannot stay here. Even with the mages conjuring food and water, we'll quickly run out of resources."

"We need the wounded to get better before we attempt to move everyone through these halls."

"Can we not send a group further into the halls to see what's waiting for us out there? It must be better than just sitting here waiting."

Faith nodded again. "It's what Sylvanas would do. All right, let's organize this. Liadrin, would you mind making sure that everyone who's injured is as ready to go as possible?"

"Of course. I'll keep a few healers with you, just in case."

"I'll go," said Haldren, walking up to them. "I'm not afraid of a few orcs." He looked towards members of the Alliance who were eyeing Faith with distrust, "I fought with her in Icecrown Citadel – she's as solid as they come. Yeh'd all be hard-pressed to find anybody else to get yeh through this land as well as she could."

"Stop it, Haldren, you're going to make me blush," said Faith quietly.

Haldren grinned. The gnome standing next to Faith nodded, "My sister was held prisoner by the Scourge in the Borean Tundra. She told me how you helped her and our cousin get out of that fallen necropolis."

"Oh… sure, I remember them. How are they?"

"They're fine. They helped with the retaking of Gnomeregan a few years ago. They're in New Tinkertown now."

"I'm glad to hear it, friend. If we manage to get back home, you'll give them my regards, won't you?"

"Sure! I'll come with you too, by the way."

"I'll be happy to have you along. Anybody else? I'll need about twenty people to start with, and I'll want another twenty to follow us, five minutes after we leave."

Rotvine and Felix stepped forward, along with three Frostwolf orcs and five tauren. Two Sin'dorei also stepped forward, followed by a group of Forsaken. Finally, a worgen stepped forward, and Faith blinked, recognizing him from the siege of Orgrimmar. Dane.

"If a worgen is willing to work with her," mused Liadrin, "she must have done something right."

Dane snorted, "Just don't tell Greymane," he said in his gruff voice.

Faith smiled a little, "All right, let's get going. The rest of you, follow close, if you can, and don't take too long to get organized."

"Don't wait for us," said Liadrin. "We'll be right behind you."

They walked into the tunnel.

* * *

A dimension away, in Undercity, Sylvanas cried, holding on to one of Faith's cloaks.


	18. Chapter 18

They advanced through the tunnels slowly, quietly. The air felt heavy with shadow magic, permeating the very walls they used to guide themselves. They met a few enemies in a large chamber, which they dispatched efficiently. There were portals as well. Not the portals that the mages were used to, but portals of cold magics that spewed forth void creatures intent on killing everything in their path.

"It's too bad we have to kill them," said Felix, nudging one with his foot. "They're actually attractive to look at."

Faith gave a nod. The creatures looked like glowing violet wolves, and were indeed pleasing to the eye. Their teeth, however, were far too sharp for anybody's good. "You know better than to judge a creature by its looks," she said in a low voice.

"Oh, I know. I'm just saying."

They kept moving, walking into one of the side tunnels and marking their progress with white magic on the walls so that they wouldn't get lost.

Hearing the distinct sound of chains rattling on the ground, they froze. They advanced more cautiously, noticing a small rivulet of blood trickling towards them.

They came upon a slim draenei female who had obviously been beaten. Bruises covered her blue skin, and one of her fingers looked unnaturally bent. At her feet was a prone body, still bleeding from a fatal head wound.

Seeing them, the female shrank against the wall.

"Be calm," said Faith slowly. "We're here to get you out. What's your name?"

"I'm Yrel," said the girl.

Faith nodded, introducing herself quickly while Haldren got rid of the chains around her legs. "Can you walk?"

"Yes." She got to her feet, "You have to be careful, though. These orcs are under the command of Ner'zhul."

"We heard. Come on, we've managed to free some others, and they're around here as well."

"Thank you," whispered Yrel.

* * *

Sylvanas left her chambers, feeling irritable. She hadn't cried like that in a long time, especially over Faith. The guard who had stationed himself outside her door said nothing, and she ignored him completely as she made her way to the throne room.

Nathanos was waiting for her, a piece of parchment in his hands.

"Is that the list of the missing, Your Majesty?"

She nodded once, "It is."

He looked at her, "Faith?"

"Faith, Carrick, most of my damned  _command_  is on Draenor."

"Why?"

"They followed Faith. She had to go, I know she did. We would have had a lot more of those orcs to deal with had she not gone."

"But she left you," he said. "Again."

Sylvanas turned her gaze on him, "Was there something you wanted?"

"Well, since most of your command is on Draenor, I think you're going to need my help. So let me offer it."

Nathanos. Sylvanas almost smiled. He had followed her without question ever since she had freed him from the Scourge. She knew how he felt about her – so did Faith. Still, he was as good a choice as any, since nobody else was around. "All right, you've earned yourself a position as second-in-command, for now."

"Thank you," he said, bowing. "I will not disappoint you."

"See that you don't."

* * *

The halls were finally quiet, the last of the fighting having died with the final orc to have been killed. Yrel was conversing quickly with the other draenei, telling them had happened to her. From what Faith could understand, she had been kidnapped out of Shadowmoon Valley by the Iron Horde and brought to the jungle to act as a slave. Others had been taken with her, but they hadn't survived the orcs' torture.

"I am sorry for what you endured, Yrel," said the draenei male who had been rescued with Drek'Thar, Maraad. "But you are strong, and that is what matters. You survived in order to help us against this Iron Horde."

"Why are they doing this?"

"We'll explain this once we've managed to get out of here," said Khadgar. "We just need to figure out how to do it."

"There is only one entrance that I have seen," said Yrel.

"How do the orcs get in and out?" asked Thrall. "Do they use their portals?"

"That doesn't bode well for us," said Faith, glancing at him. "How can we possibly make a portal to get out of here without knowing the landscape? We could end up stuck between worlds…"

"Unless we're specific," said Khadgar.

"How?"

"We could try to teleport  _above_  the cave."

"Above it?" asked Felix. "What if it's a mountain peak?"

"It isn't," Faith told him. "I didn't pay close attention, but I saw enough to notice that this wasn't a mountain."

There was a dark chuckle that resonated through the tunnels. "You think you have it all figured out. But you will never get out of this alive."

An orc came out of the shadows, and Faith recoiled with a hiss, knowing who she was looking at. He might have been from a different time, uncorrupted by the Burning Legion, but it was still him, and her soul recognized it. Ner'zhul.

Unbidden memories that she had buried deep flashed to the surface of her mind, and for a second, she was consumed with overwhelming rage.

"Faith!" cried Khadgar suddenly. "Give me your hand!"

Automatically, barely seeing through her fury, Faith grabbed his hand, feeling the ground trembling violently beneath her feet. Ner'zhul was performing what seemed to be two spells at once: creating a portal and collapsing the tunnels around them.

"Get us out of here!" cried Thrall as the warlord of the Shadowmoon Clan began to laugh.

The world went dark, and Faith worried that it was over. Sylvanas' face came to her mind, and she held on to it as much as she could.

But suddenly…

A warm, humid breeze caressed her cheeks. She tasted the air around her. It was moist. Green tinged with sea salt, different than the cold air of the tunnels.

Faith opened her eyes.

They were on a path that overlooked the arena they had fought in just before escaping to the tunnels. She glanced around, seeing that Khadgar's spell, combined with her magic, had managed to get all of them away from Ner'zhul.

"How you managed to do that is beyond me," she whispered, awed.

"Just practice," gasped Khadgar. "Come on, let's follow the others." Taking her hand, he led her where their companions were taking refuge. The path they were on curved slightly to the right, into what appeared to be a copse of trees and bushes.

"Is everyone all right?" Faith asked the group at large.

They nodded, and she started conjuring water and loaves of buttery bread for them, handing some to Khadgar, whose spell had drained him.

Khadgar accepted the water, draining it in two swallows. "Thank you, Faith." He closed his eyes for a minute as he chewed on some bread, "We cannot stay here. Who knows how many orcs will be coming after us."

"We should keep moving forward," agreed Liadrin. "But it'll be risky. We don't have enough weapons for everyone here."

"Beggin' yer pardon, Ma'am, but we do," said Haldren, coming forward. He handed her a spyglass and pointed between two tall bushes, "Look down there. Unless me eyes are deceivin' me, those are weapon crates those orcs are luggin' around."

Liadrin looked for herself, focusing the spyglass. "It appears you're right. But they'll fight like crazy to keep them."

"True, but how many of them do you think have magic like we do?"

"Probably none of them. They look like fighters to me."

"Exactly. We have some people here who don't need weapons ter fight. Faith is one of them."

"You're counting on me too much, Haldren," said Faith, embarrassed. What would you do if I weren't here?"

"Suffer," he said promptly. "We would be in big trouble without yeh."

"I admit, I feel better knowing that you're here," Khadgar told her.

"You're twice the mage I am!" she exclaimed in a hiss.

He shook his head, "I just have more training than you do, that's all. Take the compliment, Faith, it's well-deserved."

Faith said nothing else, instead looking out at the expanse below them. It was a quarry that crawled with orcs who carried weapons, ammunition, and cannon balls. She also saw what appeared to be giant bipedal creatures, twisted by some kind of magic she didn't want to think about.

She knew what Sylvanas would do in her position: order her troops to take the quarry in order to arm as many of them as possible. But would they be able to do it?

"We have to get out of this," Liadrin was saying. "If we stay here, the orcs down there will find us, and whoever's behind us will have us trapped."

Faith shrugged, "I guess we might as well go down fighting, if we go down at all." She pointed to a structure on their left, "Please tell me that's a dam."

Khadgar followed her gaze and grinned, "It certainly appears to be. That's great – we can flood this whole area It may not kill every one of these orcs, but it's a definite start."

A plan was beginning to form in Faith's mind.

"What do yeh think, lassie?" Haldren asked her.

"I think that we ought to go in there and kill as many of them as we can, while taking their weapons away from them. Magic-wielders should go in first, as they don't need weapons, as such. Any armaments they get should be sent back here as quickly as possible to arm the others."

"It's as sound a plan as any," said Khadgar. "Let's go for it."

Faith quietly called the First Magi Corps to her, but Rotvine had already briefed them on what they were going to do.

"We're ready," said Felix, sounding eager.

"I don't doubt that you are. But it's a forge – there's a lot of fire around, so I want you all to be careful. Don't get burned to a crisp – Sylvanas would kill me if anything happened to you lot."

"Sylvanas would never kill you," said Rotvine, smiling at her. "And you know it."

"All right, maybe I do know it." She smiled back before growing sober again, "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Everyone nodded and got into position.

"I'll go first with my team," said Liadrin. "Faith, you cover us. The others can follow you. Those of you who have no weapons, stay behind until you get something you can use."

They began to move. It took no more than three minutes for the orcs to realize they were under attack, but by then, several of them had already been killed, and a crate of swords secured. Thrall called for an earthquake that killed several other orcs as well while Faith led her team towards the center of the forge, killing several of the giant creatures who had been lumbering towards them.

"Kill them!" screamed their leader, someone everyone recognized as Blackhand.

_History lessons are coming to life…_  thought Faith as she kept battling. She noticed that several draenei and Frostwolf orcs had joined them, and were waging their own fierce battles, freeing anybody else who had still been prisoner in the quarry.

"We may never see orcs and draenei fighting together again," said Rotvine to her.

Faith chuckled, "We should remember this for when we go home. We  _can_  work together, no matter what our leaders think."

* * *

Sylvanas watched Nathanos reading the list in his hand, feeling slightly guilty. She guessed that Faith would be none too happy upon finding out that he was now her second.

Faith had always wondered whether something had happened between the two of them.

_I told you that nothing ever had_ , she thought.

Except it had. Only once. But it  _had_  happened.

Sylvanas closed her eyes, rubbing her left temple slowly.

"She doesn't know that we slept together, does she?" he asked her, rolling up the parchment again.

"I appreciate the fact that you didn't tell her."

Nathanos made a sound that could have passed for a snort. "The night we spent together is none of her business."

He had a point. Finding out about it would only hurt her.

It had been one night. One night when she'd been weak with need. She'd given in, going to Nathanos because he had been there. Because she hadn't been able to be with Faith.

She'd had a lot to drink, she remembered that. So had he. The memory was fuzzy, but she knew that it had taken her a long time to sate herself.

"You looked guilty that night too, after we were done," he told her quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"You have that same look on your face now than you did after we made love."

"You can't remember that."

"Oh, believe me, I remember. I remember that you looked like you were about to cry, and you left. You wouldn't look at me for days afterwards. I don't know whether you felt guilty for sleeping with me because you thought you were betraying Faith, or because you didn't love me, but you felt guilty."

Sylvanas glared at him, "What in the world makes you think I want to talk about this with you?"

He shrugged, "Faith isn't here. It seems like a good moment to mention it."

"Enough."

He tried to say something else, but her eyes suddenly flashed as a familiar anger coursed through her.

"Do not test me, Nathanos. I mean it."

Another shrug, "Fine. But ask yourself this: if you love Faith so much, how come you never married her? If she means that much to you, why haven't you made it official? Most people would have, in your stead." He walked away before she could answer, leaving her alone in the throne room.


	19. Chapter 19

The quarry and forge were flooded. Faith stood on top of the hill, watching as orcs drowned, held underwater by a film of ice that she had conjured to keep them from saving themselves. In the back of her mind, a voice told her that killing the orcs that way had been a little disloyal.

"You had to do it, Faith," Khadgar told her. "Otherwise, they would have lived to retaliate. Look at it this way, we've just gotten rid of over fifty foes."

She didn't answer, instead looking at the people who were on the rise behind her. Various members of the Horde and the Alliance, talking to the draenei and the Frostwolves about what their world was like. Moments earlier, her troops had rescued another Frostwolf orc, Ga'nar, who had been made prisoner by the Iron Horde, just like Yrel had been. He was currently polishing an axe with a piece of cloth and smiling at something another orc was telling him.

"We're going to have to get to the top of that ridge," Khadgar told her, pointing. "I expect quite a bit of resistance there, but the locals say that it's the fastest route to the harbor."

Faith nodded, "I suppose that we'll be able to steal a ship and get to safety somewhere, though I have no idea where..."

"One thing at a time. According to Ga'nar, there's a huge tank up there."

Another nod, "I see it. You want to use it to destroy the Dark Portal once and for all?"

Liadrin came over to them with Thrall. "That may be the only way we have to save Azeroth. Otherwise, they'll regroup with Grommash Hellscream and try to invade us again."

"But we may never get home," said Thrall.

"If we don't destroy the portal, there may be no home to go back to," whispered Faith. "I'm beginning to understand what Alleria was thinking when she went to Outland." She bit her lip, knowing there was a chance she would never see Sylvanas again. Despair tried to overwhelm her, but she kept it at bay by sheer force of will. "Let's do it."

It wasn't easy. The Iron Horde fought them every step of the way as they got to the tank, their dwarven engineers tinkering with it to get it working while the others battled forces on the ground.

Faith found herself facing an orc of monstrous proportions, with a hatchet for an arm – a creature that would have given her nightmares once upon a time. It was vicious, managing to cut her arm deeply in several places before she was able to kill it with a fire spell.

But finally, the dwarves managed to fix the tank, and Garia, who had stayed on it, firing volleys into their adversaries, fired a shot directly into the Dark Portal, shattering the magical archway. Even if the Iron Horde managed to get its forces back together to rebuild it, it would take them years to accomplish such a thing.

"Kill them all!" cried Grommash in horrible voice. He was standing on a rise that overlooked them, and despite the fact that he was far away, he looked absolutely furious.

"Oh, by the Light," whispered Khadgar as hundreds of Iron Horde orcs began to sprint towards them. "RUN!"

"To the harbor!"

They ran. Faith was happy she didn't need to breathe, or she probably wouldn't have managed the next ten minutes of her life. As it was, plenty of people fell, out of breath, only to be killed by the rampaging orcs behind them. Faith kept a solid arm around a female draenei, helping her to safety while Khadgar sent various spells towards their advancing enemies.

They collapsed on a huge ship, Faith immediately turning around to help Khadgar with additional spellwork. Rotvine joined her with everyone from the Magi Corps, and together, they managed to erect a shimmering barrier that kept the Iron Horde at bay while the remaining survivors reached them.

"It won't hold long!" cried Felix, already straining under the spell.

"How many more people are left out there?" asked Thrall.

"Four that I can see!" exclaimed Faith. Her arms were beginning to shake, her energy draining fast.

"I'll make sure they get here." Thrall leapt off the ship before anybody could say anything, coming back less than five minutes later, carrying an injured draenei female and followed by another three Frostwolf orcs.

"Khadgar! Come on!" called Rotvine.

Releasing the spell in a shower of hot sparks, the archmage leapt onto the ship, which immediately began to move. The Iron Horde orcs, reaching the harbor, began to throw spears at them, but the First Magi Corps still had active shields up, deflecting anything that came towards them.

* * *

Sylvanas closed the door to her office, feeling wretched. She hated the fact that Nathanos had brought up the one night they had spent together.

_It was decades ago_ , she told herself.  _In another lifetime._

Perhaps. But Faith wouldn't be happy to hear of it, even if it had happened years before the Scourge had invaded. She knew what Faith would say to her. She would ask why it had been so difficult for her to be honest about it. Why she'd lied.

_Because I didn't want to see that look on your face again. I didn't want to hurt you, love._

"Now you're having conversations with the air," she whispered to herself. "Idiot."

Shaking her head, she sat down to take a closer look at the list in her hand to try to figure out how to go on without half the people who mattered to Undercity.

* * *

Food was piled high on a table. It was only conjured food, but everyone appreciated the efforts all of the mages had put into feeding everyone on board the ship.

Faith had provided twenty loaves of hearty buttered bread, along with three pots of honey and cream. Khadgar had conjured two bushels of glossy red and yellow apples, and a huge plate of cheese. The others, working together, had managed an assortment of meats and fish that looked surprisingly appetizing.

"I guess that the fact that everyone was working together made it all better quality?" Rotvine asked Khadgar.

He nodded, "You know that this works just like any other spell. When you conjure something on your own, unless you're an exceptionally strong mage, the results will be decent. A lowly mage might be able to conjure a simple slice of bread, but anything bigger would require more power."

"Is that why Faith's food looks like that? I heard someone say once that her conjured bread tasted like it was fresh out of the oven with melted butter inside."

"I practice a lot of conjuring spells," said Faith, coming over. "Especially when I know we're going to be in combat situations. It helps keep me focused, and eventually, it leads to better results. It's the same thing I did with my fire spells. I could barely conjure a flame when I was twenty."

Rotvine made a sound that could have been a snort, "And now look at you."

"It's just bread," she said sheepishly.

"It's not just the bread. Look at how far you've come. Sylvanas told me that before the Scourge, you were shy, you could barely look at her, and that while your spellwork was good, it wasn't nearly as intense as it is now, not by a long – why are you looking at me like that?"

Faith licked her lips, "Sylvanas spoke to you about me?"

"Sure. I mean, she doesn't go on for hours, but if you catch her in the mood and ask her about you, chances are she'll answer." He shook his head, "I suppose now you're going to want to know what she told me, and the exact inflection of her voice as she spoke, right?"

The nod was almost imperceptible, but Rotvine caught it.

"Maybe I'll tell you later," he said. "If you're good."

"If I'm good?" repeated Faith. "What are we, ten?" She smiled and went to sit down on some of the steps of the upper deck, pulling a map of Draenor out of her cloak pocket. She began to study it, trying to figure out where they would be headed. "Are we all going to the same place?"

Thrall heard her, and shook his head, "I don't think so. I heard Yrel talking, and it seems that her people will be going to Shadowmoon Valley with the Alliance. We will be going to Frostfire Ridge with the Frostwolf orcs."

"So we're going to drop the draenei and the Alliance off first."

A nod, "That's right. We should be there in just a couple of days if we hold our course. It will take us a little longer to reach Frostfire Ridge. It's a little further away." He pointed to the map, "Right here."

"We'll have to go all the way around the continent. I don't suppose we could use magic to make things go faster, could we? Too much to ask, you think?" she was grinning.

Thrall chuckled, "You read my mind."

"Maybe we should speed things up now, before people have a chance to eat too much. We wouldn't want them to get sick."

Thrall's chuckle turned into a snort, "You should know better than to think the elements would allow us to get sick while on this kind of trip."

Faith frowned, "You can do that? Make us go faster and get the elements of water and air to keep the ship still enough for people not to get seasick?"

"I've never tried," he admitted. "But how difficult can it be?"

Difficult, as it turned out. Thrall's spell definitely allowed their ship to move faster, but there was nothing anybody could do to keep them from rocking back and forth on the sea. Soon, many people were below deck, lying down and trying not to empty the contents of their stomachs onto the floor.

"Well, there was a chance he wouldn't be able to keep the ship steady," said Khadgar. "It'll be worth it to get where we need to go faster."

"Tell that to the people downstairs," said Faith, wincing as she heard more sounds of retching below. "They may never get on a ship again."

She walked below deck to find Arator giving water to a female Frostwolf orc who had evidently been sick. He was gentle with her, talking to her and performing a mild spell on her so that she would go to sleep. Looking up, he saw that Faith was staring, and smiled. "What?" he wondered.

"Nothing. I didn't think you cared much for orcs, that's all," she said quietly.

"I don't. But these orcs are different. Even if they end up becoming members of the Horde, they shouldn't suffer like that while they're with us. Besides, I'm not a barbarian like most of your people."

"Most of  _my_  people?" asked Faith, bristling a little. "Do you mean the Forsaken or the very people you come from, Arator?"

"I meant the Horde in general. You can't deny that a lot of them are bloodthirsty. Even the goblins."

"The goblins care mostly about when and where they're going to get their next coin. And I've never seen a Sin'dorei who was bloodthirsty. The same goes for the tauren."

"What about the Forsaken?"

Faith shrugged, "We were killed and raised. You need to expect a little resentment there, which translates into a will to battle."

Arator gave a nod and walked out of the cabin, making his way back to the upper deck. Faith followed him.

"Why did you come here, Arator?"

"Is it not obvious to you?"

"Of course it's obvious to me, but I don't think that your parents are here. They went to Outland, not Draenor."

"We don't know that. There's no way to know that, not really."

"Actually, there is. Khadgar was with them, remember? And he ended up in Outland with everyone else."

"I know. But he also said that the Twisting Nether works in mysterious ways. There's a possibility that we'll find them here, I can feel it."

Faith didn't want to shatter his illusion, and so kept quiet. It would have been wonderful to find Alleria and Turalyon, but she wondered what it would be like. If they were still alive, what had they been through? She couldn't imagine it.

"How's Sylvanas doing?" he asked her suddenly.

"Sylvanas? I can't say for sure how she's doing at this exact moment, but she was fine when I saw her last."

"And your relationship? Is it still… alive? Even after all this time?"

Faith gave a nod, "Very much so."

"Does she talk about my mother at all?"

She put a hand on his shoulder, "She tries not to talk too much about the past – it hurts a lot when she does. But yes. We spoke of Alleria perhaps a month or two ago." Seeing that she had his undivided attention, she smiled a little. "It was her birthday. We were talking about a beach dance that they'd had in Eversong Woods. I wasn't there for that, but Sylvanas told me about the way your mother was constantly by your father's side. They weren't together then, I think they were just friends."

Arator's lip trembled for just a second, and Faith hugged him impulsively. He stiffened a little, but eventually relaxed and put his arms around her, hugging her back.

* * *

It took them almost two days to get to Shadowmoon Valley. After the first day, the ship stopped rocking so much, allowing most people to emerge into the fresh air and begin walking around a little.

"It's beautiful here," commented Faith. She could see blue-green trees and grass growing under the starlit sky, bathed in a glowing violet light. It was completely at odds with the Shadowmoon Valley she had known in Outland, an ethereal wonderland that her people would have greatly appreciated.

"It's amazing," breathed Arator, who was standing next to her.

"Welcome to our home," said Yrel. "Come on, we have a lot to do if you are going to set up a base here."

Slowly, the members of the Alliance got off the ship, walking on the water that the mages had frozen for them.

Arator hugged Faith, "I guess I'll see you around?" he asked.

"I hope so. Be careful, Arator."

"You too, Aunt Faith."

Faith smiled, squeezing his hand one more time before watching him leaving the ship with some of the others. Fifteen minutes later, the ship was under way again, doubling back the way they had come. Khadgar had elected to remain with them for the time being, but had gotten the coordinates of Shadowmoon Valley in order to teleport there later.

"Now that I know where I can land, I won't have to worry about finding myself under fifty feet of water," he said, sounding amused. "You could too, Faith, if you wanted to."

"Technically, I could teleport to Ironforge as well whenever I wanted to, being as I've been there before. I just choose not to do it."

"How come?" asked Felix.

"Mainly because if I were to suddenly appear in Ironforge, the guards would kill me first, and ask questions later."

Felix laughed, "I see your point." He looked on as Shadowmoon Valley grew smaller and smaller, "How long will it take us to get to where we're going?"

"A while. We need to travel two days back to where we were, then continue on to Frostfire Ridge. Maybe a week altogether, if I use the elements again."

Nobody relished the idea of Thrall calling the elements forth again, as they had no desire to be sick, but in the end, the need to go back home won out for the orcs.

* * *

A new day was dawning over Undercity. Sylvanas, watching the sun rising from the roofs overlooking the Ruins of Lordaeron, was procrastinating going back to the throne room. Silvermoon ambassadors were due at any minute despite the early hour, and she didn't feel much like dealing with them.

In her hand, she held a small vial of red earth. If one looked closely, it was possible to see that some sections of earth were stained a darker red.

Blood.

Faith's blood, from where she had fallen as she'd been stabbed in Razor Hill. Before she had died. Sylvanas had gathered the stained earth the last time she had been in Durotar. She'd done it almost absently, surprised that her lover's blood had still been visible on the ground.

She was aware that anybody seeing her with the vial would think her crazier than she already was. She cared not. Faith was lost somewhere on Draenor, the same way her sister had been decades before.

"Who knows when I'll see you again, my darling?" she said to the morning breeze.

Nobody answered, but she heard the sound of the translocator below where she was sitting. Looking down, she saw Lor'themar along with ten other people in tow, including several Silvermoon City magisters.

"She hasn't lost her mind with grief, has she?" one of them asked Lor'themar. Sylvanas recognized his voice. It was Rommath. She smirked.

"No," said the Regent-Lord. "She's actually being quite level-headed about Faith being on Draenor. I guess we all have to be: all of us have people we love there. We can't afford to go crazy. Besides, Faith is more than capable of taking care of herself."

"I know that, I'm not saying she's not. It's just that rumor has it that Sylvanas is…" he paused, choosing his words, "difficult to deal with when Faith isn't around."

"I'm fairly certain that when we tell her that we have a plan to try to open a portal that leads directly to Draenor, she'll be quite easy to work with."

A portal to Draenor? That  _was_  something of interest. Sylvanas waited a couple of minutes for the Sin'dorei to pass by her before she silently followed them into the Undercity.

* * *

**Author's note:**

From this point on, when it comes to the Warlords of Draenor storyline, I will be taking a lot of liberties. Just to let you know! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think! Sorry it took me so long to update – life, and writer's block and leveling void elves took up a lot of my time!

Love,  
Lunarelle


	20. Chapter 20

Lor'themar jumped when Sylvanas entered the throne room seconds after he did. "How long have you been following us?"

"Since you got here," replied Sylvanas, casually strolling past him and going to sit on her chair. "You said you're going to open a portal to Draenor? Can you do that, considering that you also have to go back in time?"

"Well, we won't know until we've tried, will we? It's worth a shot."

She agreed. They didn't really have anything to lose. "What do you need from Undercity?"

"Some mages, if you have any to spare."

Sylvanas forced herself not to roll her eyes, "You do realize that three-quarters of the elite members of the Undercity Magi Corps went to Draenor. I only have about fifty fully trained mages here, and none of them are good enough to attempt the creation of a trans-dimensional portal that goes back in time."

Rommath looked at her, "In that case, we need something of Faith's."

"Something of Faith's," repeated Sylvanas. "Like what?"

"An object that has her essence on it. We have something of Liadrin's, and some of the other Sin'dorei who went. We want to use those objects to see if we can tap into their essence at the Dark Portal. Maybe it'll help us create a portal to where they are."

Sylvanas gently fingered the vial she had stowed in her pocket. She didn't want to part with it, but the choice was clear: she'd rather have Faith with her than a hundred vials filled with drops of her blood. "Try this," she said.

Lor'themar cocked his head to the side, "What is it?"

"Her blood. It was on the ground in Durotar."

"From when she was killed?" asked Rommath, his eyebrows shooting up. "That's… handy, thank you, Sylvanas."

Lor'themar was staring at her, an unreadable expression on his face. Finally, he cleared his throat and went to take the vial from Sylvanas. "There's no guarantee this will work, you understand. It may take us months to get a portal open."

Sylvanas nodded, "I understand." She paused, "How will you do this? Do you know?"

"Not really," said Rommath. "If Rhonin and Krasus were still with us, I think we would have a better understanding of what to do."

"Oh, is that all we need?" asked Sylvanas sarcastically.

A small smile, "We have the best mages of Silvermoon working on this, and I'm sure the Kirin Tor are doing the same. You'll see, we'll get them all back very soon." He inclined his head respectfully, "We'll go now to get things started. Thanks for this," he held up the vial.

"Good luck." She walked them back to the Orb of Translocation, then stayed there a while, looking up at the sky. A shadow glided over her, and she caught a glimpse of a large white bat's wing before the creature landed behind her.

Ivory looked sad. Evidently, she sensed that her mistress was gone, and was distressed over it.

Sylvanas went to her, running her fingers over her fur and picking out some twigs and leaves that had gotten caught in it. "She'll be home soon," she said quietly to the animal. "We'll see her again."

Ivory cocked her head, nudging her multiple times. She made a high-pitched squeaking sound, nudging her again.

"If you think that I have Faith hidden under my cloak, you're sadly mistaken, my friend. Believe me, I wish I did." She kept petting her for a while, and Ivory slowly relaxed under her touch, closing her eyes as though she enjoyed the attention. "She'll be home soon," repeated Sylvanas quietly.

* * *

The ship had finally slowed down enough to allow the living people on the ship to relax a little. Days had passed since they had left Shadowmoon Valley, and the orcs were starting to point out the areas familiar to them.

"You see those peaks on the horizon?" said one of them to Faith. "That's Frostfire Ridge."

"What kind of a place is it?" she asked him. His name was Jemak, and he was a wizened warrior who had seen his fair share of battles, judging by the scars on his body. He wore thick wolf furs around his body to ward off the increasing cold, and chewed on a piece of dried meat as he spoke to Faith.

"Well, it is as it sounds. Frozen, with fiery activity from the volcanoes. Not many people want to live there, but it is a great place for us, because of the wolves. It is comprised of many snowy mountains. Trees are sparse, but there is enough vegetation there to allow beasts to graze in peace. The fires from the volcanoes light up the landscape at night, it can be pretty to see."

Faith smiled, hearing the orc's love for the place he described. "We're no strangers to cold places, believe me," she said, conjuring a mug of ale for him. She told him a little about Azeroth, and he listened to her, fascinated.

"I never thought about other planets before," he said.

"I don't think many of us did, until we were invaded by beings from another world."

"Is this why you are here? To keep from being invaded again?"

She nodded, "We've been invaded by the Burning Legion three times. The last time, it nearly cost us everything we had. We weren't about to let the Iron Horde invade us and take away our home, so we decided on a preemptive strike."

"Good strategy."

"Maybe for war, but not so much when it means you have to leave your loved ones behind."

"But you are here to keep them safe, are you not? It must be worth it."

"It is. Even if I never see my lover again, I can rest easy knowing that she's going to be okay."

"You don't think you're going to make it home?"

"Our home is on another planet, in another dimension that's in another time. I have no idea how we're going to be able to get back there, being as we destroyed the Dark Portal."

Someone walked over to them. It was Drek'Thar, and he was leaning on Thrall for support. "Oh, you will see your home again," he said. "The spirits have foreseen it."

Faith smiled, "I thank the spirits for giving you that insight, Drek'Thar. I hope that what you say will come to pass." She got to her feet to allow the older orc to sit on the bench she'd been on.

"We are almost there. I recognize the scent of this part of the sea."

He was right. Frostfire Ridge was indeed getting closer. Faith could distinguish the mountains better now, and noticed that, in some places, the snow seemed to be glowing red.

"I'll give us a little nudge forward," said Thrall. "I am eager to see the place Durotan of the Frostwolves calls home."

Durotan. There was a name that held a lot of meaning for the people of Azeroth. They were going to see him. Interact with him. Thrall must have been nervous about it, but only his eyes showed it, while the rest of him seemed utterly calm as they came ever closer to the icy shore.

* * *

"Sylvanas, we have a problem."

Looking up from the report she was reading, Sylvanas frowned as Nathanos brazenly walked into her office without knocking. "I should say so. I'm not accustomed to you walking in like this. What is it?"

"Orcs have been seen in the Arathi Highlands."

"And that would be a problem why? They have as much right to be there as you do."

"Not these orcs, Your Majesty. These are Iron Horde orcs."

Standing, she glared at him, "What exactly do you mean, 'these are  _Iron Horde_  orcs'? You mean to tell me that the Iron Horde has managed to get all the way here from the Blasted Lands in such a short amount of time?"

"I don't know how they got here so quickly, Sylvanas, but they did."

"And you're positive they're Iron Horde?"

He nodded, "I'm afraid so. Some people saw their crest, and it looks like the one we saw near the Dark Portal. There's also the fact that they slaughtered a group of goblin mercenaries."

Goblin mercenaries. "That doesn't sound credible, Nathanos. Who did you hear this from?"

"A bat rider arrived not thirty minutes ago. He seemed very agitated."

She resisted the effort to roll her eyes and walked around her desk, "Take me to him. I'll hear him out myself."

* * *

Frostfire Ridge had been aptly named. What seemed at first to be a frozen wasteland, was in fact a collection of mountain peaks touched by volcanic fires.

It was cold. Very cold. It didn't bother Faith, but she perceived just how bitter the temperature was. She couldn't imagine anything living in such a place, and yet, there they stood, in front of an imposing orc covered in an entire white wolf skin.

Durotan.

He was the stuff of legends. Faith could hardly believe that she was there, meeting him, taking to him and thanking him for allowing them to dock on his shores, while he thanked her and the rest of the Horde for helping the Forstwolves get away from the Iron Horde.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Thrall for a reaction. His eyes were bright, and a small muscle was twitching in his hand, as though he wanted to reach out for his father and hug him. She felt a sudden homesickness, missing her own father so badly she nearly burst into tears.

"We have a spot for you to set up camp, if you would like to," Durotan was saying. "It should be big enough to accommodate all of you."

"That would be welcome," said Thrall. "Thank you."

They began to make their way towards an area Durotan had indicated, through a pass in the mountains. As they walked, they saw small pools of bubbling lava nestled within the rock and surrounded by snow.

"That's a contrast," remarked Faith.

"How sure are we that this place isn't going to blow up and engulf us?" Rotvine asked her in a low voice.

"Well, we can't really be sure of anything, can we? We'll just have to hope that everything's going to be okay."

"That's what you're telling me to do? Have faith that everything's going to be okay?"

"We are with Durotan," she hissed. "Think for a second of what this means. Think how much we can learn from him, even if he is different than the Durotan who was Thrall's father."

They kept walking, most of them in silence as they listened to Durotan talk about his people and where they all lived. Their village wasn't far from where they would be located, and he promised to set up a route for them to constantly be in contact with each other.

"Will you be trying to make your way home?" he wondered.

It was Khadgar who answered that. "We will. We left friends in Shadowmoon Valley, and we will be coordinating with them in case they have any ideas about how to get out of here. We will need to make portals, though, and I fear it won't be easy, considering."

"But the Iron Horde was able to make a portal to Azeroth," said Felix. "Why couldn't we?"

"Because we don't have the Sands of Time with us," answered Rotvine. "They do."

"But then it'll be easy for them to make another portal?"

Faith shook her head, "It took them years to make the one that we destroyed. We've bought ourselves enough time to find Garrosh and bring him to justice."

"What if we can't?"

"We will stay as long as we need to in order to get the job done, young one," said Thrall calmly.

"Felix, look at Faith. Does she look worried? If we were never going home, trust me, she would be freaking out right now."

"Hey!" exclaimed Faith.

"Well, it's true. If you had a feeling that you'd never see Sylvanas again, you'd be losing your mind right about now."

"Thanks for that," she muttered under her breath as several people laughed. "Yes, of course I believe that we're going to make it home. I have to."

Thrall smiled.

Soon after, they crested a high hill that overlooked a small valley. Surrounded by cliffs on one side, and a pool of lava on the other, it looked fairly cozy. There were also plenty of unusual-looking trees with triangular leaves, which would probably make for good lumber.

There was a problem, however.

"Are those gronn?" asked Liadrin, who had been quiet until that point. She was looking at several creatures in the distance. Giant and one-eyed, they were vicious things, half made of flesh and rock, that Faith had faced only a couple of times when she'd been in Outland. Legend had it that orcs and ogres were descended from the race, although not many orcs would confirm that.

"We're going to have to get rid of them if we're going to stay here," said Thrall.

"Yes," agreed Durotan. "And I can help you with that. This would be a perfect place for you. There is a hot spring inside one of the cliff's caves, which would allow you to build a more permanent settlement, should you wish to."

It was tempting.

"Why couldn't we have stayed in Shadowmoon Valley?" grumbled Delaen, who had been standing behind Faith. "At least that land was hospitable."

Faith glanced at him, "If you want to go stay with the Alliance, you're free to go with Khadgar when he leaves." She turned to Thrall, "How do you want to deal with the gronn?"

"You tell me, Faith. You're the highest-ranking officer here."

Was she? She looked around. Other than herself Liadrin and Thrall, there were no other prominent officers with them. "You want me to command the Horde forces here?" she asked them.

"Like I said –."

"I know what you said. I'm asking you if this is what you want."

Thrall nodded, "I don't see why you shouldn't. You've led forces before."

Forces that had been attached to a bigger regiment, certainly, but she'd never been  _the_  commander before. "I'll only do it if the two of you lead with me."

"Seems fair," said Liadrin. "But Thrall and I will defer to you, if you don't mind."

Faith blinked. For a reason she couldn't understand, they really wanted her to be in charge. "As you wish," she told them slowly. "The first thing I'll do then is ask all of you if you're okay with this location. Yes, we have to get rid of the hostile wildlife, but it seems ideal for now, especially since we will be working with the Frostwolf orcs."

She waited a heartbeat, noticing a few people nodding to her.

"Tell me now if you're absolutely against it."

"We follow you," said Rotvine, bowing to her. Felix and the other Forsaken did the same, as did the Sin'dorei except for Delaen, who was staring at her in disbelief. One by one, the other members of the Horde bowed as well, leaving her stunned.

"Don't you two bow to me," she told Liadrin and Thrall. "I'd blush if I were still alive."

Liadrin smiled, "So, what do you want to do now?"

"Grab volunteers to deal with the gronn and make sure they don't kill us all as we set up. I'll need another team to find me the best trees in the area for lumber. Those of you who brought the supplies from the ship, follow me."

Liadrin and Thrall immediately got to work, while a group of others followed her into the open area to uncrate their supplies. Rotvine went with her, pulling a bag from beneath the folds of his cloak.

"I'm glad I brought this," he said. "I packed it just in case we were stuck somewhere for a while."

"Packed what?"

"Tables, chairs, tents, things of that nature. I took a leaf out of your book."

Faith chuckled, "What a coincidence, I have one as well." She put her bag on the ground next to Rotvine's, and together, they performed a spell so that several things materialized from it.

There were three tables, each of which were draped with an Undercity table cloth. Several chairs and long benches with cushions for comfort. Three open tents, along with a larger closed one.

"I love magic," said Faith, grinning at the final results. Durotan was staring at the setup, enthralled.

"Is this the kind of magic your people can do?" he asked faintly.

"It's not much," replied Faith. "We didn't have much time to prepare, to be honest. But this is some of our magic, yes. It comes in handy in a pinch."

"And you put all of that in a bag?" he still looked amazed.

Faith nodded, "Yes. It takes a lot of practice, and it can go horribly wrong if not done properly. The best mages I know in Dalaran could fit three times as many things into a bag and make it look like they had nothing on them." She walked towards the center of the area, focused, and conjured a large fire that hovered a couple of inches above the snow. "That will do until we dig a fire pit."

"Well-done, Commander," said Durotan. "We could use someone like you in our village to lend us a hand with magic."

"I'd be happy to come and help once we've gotten settled here."

Thrall walked over, "We've gotten quite a few trees down, so we should be able to start building soon. And we can use the mountains for rocks. There are plenty of loose ones around here."

"Sounds good, thank you," said Faith. "How are they all faring against the gronn?"

"Good. Some of them have already run away, and we will be keeping watch to make sure they don't come back with friends."

Faith smiled, "Let's hope they don't."


	21. Chapter 21

It was cold, the snow and ice making it difficult for the base's construction to advance as quickly as everyone wanted. But Faith was so enthusiastic that it was hard for people not to share her excitement. In the three weeks since they had landed on Frostfire Ridge, one building had been erected in what had come to be known as Frostwall.

The building was two stories high, built along the lines of Forsaken architecture, which Faith favored. Magic had colored the stones and lumber black, and another spell had made it possible for heat to remain inside the structure, which was a boon to the living people using it.

"It reminds me of the inn we have in Brill," Rotvine told Faith. "Is that what you were thinking of?"

Faith nodded, "I figured it would remind people of home."

She had placed beds on the second floor of the building, using the leaves and twigs of the trees they were cutting down, but performing spells on them so that the branches became larger, the leaves much softer. She and the mages had taken one of the pillows used on the benches and had altered it to fit the bed, before using another spell to duplicate it, so that they would have enough for everyone. The inn now had around twenty beds to accommodate anybody who needed it.

Two other structures were currently being built, and, despite the fact that none of them were architects, they thought the work was moving along well enough, despite the weather.

"It's a good thing we have so much arcane magic around," said Liadrin as she examined the walls that they had put in place to surround their base. "Otherwise, I have no idea how we would have built anything."

"Maybe it would have taken longer, but we would have managed" Thrall told her. He was supervising the building of what Faith had dubbed the Magic Tower. It was to be three stories high, and would encompass portals to various parts of Draenor. Twice already, Khadgar had created a portal from the Alliance's base in Shadowmoon Valley in order to visit them. He had brought lumber and several other things from the draenei settlements in the area. Faith, in turn, had sent back furs and stones that they had mined from a nearby quarry.

"Aren't you a little astounded at the fact that we're trading with the Alliance? Our leaders would blow a fuse if they found out about this."

Thrall shrugged, "It makes sense. We're not here to fight each other for once, so we might as well work together. Don't forget that Faith has a nephew in Shadowmoon Valley."

"Not her  _real_  nephew."

"He's Sylvanas' nephew, which basically means that he's Faith's as well."

"They're not married yet."

Thrall chuckled, "I think it's just a matter of time. Faith misses her."

Liadrin gave a nod, "She doesn't really show it. But… I caught her crying the other day. I'd never heard her make a sound like that. Not since…" her eyes veiled for the briefest of moments.

"We all have someone we love on Azeroth. Agra is alone with the children, and I have no idea whether I'm going to see them again. Faith knows better than to show us how she feels. She's a commander now, not some low-level sergeant."

"When I say I caught her crying, I mean I was on the ship to get some more fish, and she was below decks in the shadows. She didn't see me. I didn't see her either, actually, I just heard her."

"You think we'll find a way to get home?"

"Yes, I do. The mages have been working on that since we got here."

It was true. Ever since construction of the base had begun, Faith and the mages had been working on portals. Thrall had seen them more than once huddled together in the caves, making complicated calculations and mapping out star charts with the help of locals.

She was there now, working with Rotvine and Felix, who was surprisingly good with numbers despite his young age. Around them, some of their people were planting a garden with seeds Faith had brought from Azeroth in one of her bags.

Felix had stared at her when she'd done that.

"What possessed you to bring peacebloom and mageroyal seeds to Draenor?" he'd asked.

"Simple. I knew there was a possibility we would come here, and I didn't want to be caught here without herbs to make potions, that's all. I keep these on me at all times in case of an emergency."

"What kind of emergency?" he asked. "I mean, there are herbs here, I saw them."

"Frostweed," she replied. "I don't know what those herbs do yet, I can't just use them in a potion. I need things I know. So I always make it a point to carry basic potion ingredients with me."

"I guess it's a good idea…"

"It is, it's actually a great idea. Especially since it wasn't mine."

Rotvine began to laugh, "Let me guess, Sylvanas had this idea a hundred years ago."

"Well, thirty years ago, but yes actually."

"Unbelievable. She really is your reference for everything, isn't she?"

"She's been the one constant in my life, except for the one year she wasn't." Faith shrugged, "I reference her a lot, because I focused a lot on her when I was alive."

"Honey, you focus a lot on her  _now_."

She didn't deny that, "Anyway, something she said to me once caused me to start carrying around a bag of herbs when I was away from home. It's served me well." She went back to the star chart she was holding, adding notes to it, "A lot of what I know about star placement in this part of the Twisting Nether is from what I learned in Outland. I wonder if that'll affect our calculations."

"Khadgar said it shouldn't," said Rotvine. "We're here. I don't think we can accidentally teleport to another planet, especially since we're in another dimension."

"This is giving me a headache… and I don't even get headaches anymore!"

"Look, we're going to figure it out. Even if we don't, you can bet that the best mages on Azeroth are looking for a way to open their own portal to get to us." Rotvine looked at her, not really surprised to see that she was showing mild signs of panic. To anybody else, she would have looked normal, but since he knew her… "You will see Sylvanas again, you have to believe that."

* * *

Iron Horde orcs in the Arathi Highlands.

As much as Sylvanas hated to admit it, there was no questioning the veracity of the messenger's statements.

"How many, did you say?"

"I don't know. It could be as many as a hundred."

A hundred. A hundred members of the Iron Horde on her doorstep. "We'll have to make sure that people can differentiate between them and friendly orcs in case they try to infiltrate."

"How, though?" asked Nathanos.

"I'll leave that up to you, Nathanos. Once you've come up with an idea, let me know." She wished Faith were here. It would have been so much simpler with her there.

_I miss you_.

"I suppose we could have them use passwords of some kind."

"Passwords, really. Because you don't think that it's easy for someone to pick up a password just like that. If I wanted to infiltrate an organization with a password, I'd be able to do so in a couple of days."

Nathanos stared at her, unused to that level of sarcasm coming from her. "What else have you got in mind?"

"Like I said, I'll leave that up to you." She shook her head, unwilling to admit that, for the first time in her life, she had no idea what to do. She knew that she could deal with the Iron Horde: a couple of batches of new Plague would take care of them nicely. But nobody would trust her again if she were to use that.

And if Faith found out…

Besides, before she could deal with them, she'd have to find them.

"Just find me one of them and bring it to me."

"That easy, huh?" asked Nathanos. He had sensed a change coming over Sylvanas. Only two days had passed since their return from the Blasted Lands, but he could tell that his queen was antsy. She was never going to admit it to anybody, but she was worried sick about Faith, and until the two of them were reunited, he feared that he wouldn't get much out of her.

* * *

The garrison in Shadowmoon Valley was magnificent to behold. Nestled between fragrant trees, it already looked like a pretty little town, despite only being half-built.

"They've really made something of this place," said Faith, impressed by what she was seeing.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Khadgar told her. "You've managed to build a huge inn already. Most of us are still sleeping in tents."

Faith smiled, "You have a bit of a milder climate here than we do up in Frostwall. While the Forsaken don't mind the cold, those of us who are living would have died, even if they'd stayed on the ship, because it's colder out on the water. We couldn't keep them living in tents."

She had brought five mages with her to Shadowmoon Valley, in Lunarfall, on a mission that seemed insane, yet deceptively simple.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Rotvine suddenly. "It seems too easy."

"Of course it seems easy. But we haven't tried yet, have we?"

"Tried what exactly?" asked one of the Alliance mages, a high elf named Cerynne.

"To open a portal home."

"What, to Azeroth? Just like that?" She looked at Faith skeptically, "How are we supposed to do that?"

"That's just the thing, I want us to try it. It occurred to me earlier that we hadn't attempted to open a portal. We all know how to get home if we need to."

"Yeah, of course," said Rotvine. "I can get to Undercity from anywhere on Azeroth. But we're not on Azeroth."

"And if it were that easy to make a portal to Azeroth from another world, the Burning Legion wouldn't be needing to resort to so many wars in order to get to us," added Khadgar.

Faith nodded, "I know what you're saying, but we  _are_  from Azeroth. We should be able to go home at any time, shouldn't we? We're connected to the magic there."

"I don't know if it's going to be that simple," murmured Khadgar. "But I suppose that we should give it a try. We don't have to step through any portal we create. We'll see an image of where it opens up anyway."

"What if it opens up in the middle of a star?" asked Cerynne.

"It shouldn't, unless we vastly misdirect our energies. If we focus enough on Dalaran, we should be able to create a portal there."

"How did you do it when you were on Outland, Khadgar? I seem to recall that you were able to create a portal back to Azeroth from there?"

Khadgar glanced at Rotvine, "It took a lot of calculations, I can tell you that. And the first few times I tried, I completely failed. I ended up creating a portal directly into the Twisting Nether, which was terrifying… imagine if I'd actually stepped through it."

Faith's eyes widened, "I'd rather not…"

Khadgar chuckled, putting a hand on her shoulder, "We're all a lot more experienced now than we were when we were on Outland. I mean, you've killed Arthas since then – it's huge. And you died, which gave you more of a power boost than you care to admit."

"I haven't –."

"Yes you have. Sylvanas all but infused you with her life's essence when she raised you. You're more powerful now than you were then, which means that you are invaluable to us. Please don't forget this."

Not knowing how to respond to that, Faith chose to keep quiet. After a while, Khadgar gathered several other mages, and all of them went to one of the clearings near Lunarfall to see what they could do about the portal.

She pulled a star chart from her bag, examining it.

"You think we have the coordinates right?"

Khadgar gave a nod, "We should. It's the same coordinates I used when I teleported home from Outland."

"Should we focus on Dalaran?" asked Felix.

"Yes. All of us have made portals to Dalaran before. This is pretty much the same principle. You just need to account for time and space."

"Time and space," repeated Rotvine. "How are we supposed to factor that into our spellwork?"

"Focus," said Faith.

Focus. It wasn't easy. Gathering ten mages in order to make one portal was already difficult under the best of circumstances, because people never thought about exactly the same thing. The fact that they were trying to create a trans-dimensional portal that also went through different timeways was next to impossible.

"All right, everyone," said Khadgar. "Now."

* * *

Nathanos walked through the halls of Undercity, noticing how much quieter it was than usual. Half the city's officers were patrolling Lordaeron, keeping an eye out for the Iron Horde. The others were patrolling the city itself, while several others guarded Sylvanas as per his orders.

"You do realize I don't need you to protect me, right?" she asked him, surprised when he doubled the number of deathguards in the Royal Quarter.

"Faith's not here, so someone has to do it."

"Is that what you think Faith does? Protect me?" She glanced at him, "Why are you so focused on me all of a sudden?"

"You're my queen."

"I've been your queen for years, and you've only recently started to focus on me. What's going on?"

He shrugged, "Since Faith is gone –."

"Since Faith is gone, what?"

The look he gave her might have been the glowing one of the undead, but Sylvanas read it like an open book.

"What in the  _world_  are you thinking about?"

He shook his head, knowing better than to say anything about it. Instead, he changed the subject, "Have you heard from Lor'themar?"

"They haven't been able to create a portal yet, although they've tried twice."

"Do they have any ideas as to how they're going to get it to work?"

"I'm sure they do, but they didn't share it with me."

"Did they think about getting some Sands of Time?"

"Of course they did, but it's not easy for them to get, is it? They're trying to find another way of opening it."

"But if Garrosh used the Sands of Time to get the portal open… I mean, if we don't have any on hand, how are we supposed to get our people home?"

Sylvanas closed her eyes briefly against the question. She had been asking herself that ever since Lor'themar had left Undercity. She worried that they wouldn't be able to do anything. She'd even gone as far as to write to Chromie, but so far hadn't heard anything back. "They'll come home," she said. "In the meantime, why don't you update me on the Iron Horde?"

Nathanos winced, "Ah… well, I have some good news and some bad news about that, Your Majesty."

She waited, blinking once.

"The good news is that we know which area they're in. They're in Silverpine Forest now. The bad news is that they're heading this way, and leaving a trail of deaths in their wake."

"Deaths?"

"I sent people to intercept them. Only one of them came back, and he wasn't really in any kind of shape to talk. I don't know how he got away from them."

"He was tortured?"

"That's one way of putting it. More like he was mutilated. He was missing three fingers and his tongue."

His tongue? She raised her eyebrows.

"The one who came back was a troll, not a Forsaken."

"So you're sending Vol'jin's people to fight the Iron Horde in Silverpine Forest?"

Nathanos shook his head, "He volunteered to go with the hit team. I bet that, at the moment, he wishes he'd never heard of us."

"Where is he now?"

"With the healers. They're doing the best they can with him, but they're saying he'll never be able to use his right hand again."

She nodded once, then got to her feet, making her way to where the healers were located. With Faith's help, they had created quite a nice area for themselves in one of the far corners of the Apothecarium.

Green moss grew in a round patch on the ground and against the walls, along with tiny orange plants. In several trays, someone had planted peacebloom, mageroyal, briarthorn, and kingsblood, plants that Faith had often used in potions. A couple of small tree trunks had been brought from outside to make a sitting area for the healers, and Sylvanas saw with some surprise that moss and plants were also growing out of them.

The troll was currently laying on a hammock that had been magically suspended in midair next to one of the walls. He was covered from head to toe in bruises, and a clean white bandage had been wrapped around what was left of his hand.

He looked over when Sylvanas approached, and tried to get to his feet, but she waved him down.

"I know you can't talk," she said. "But I wanted to ask you what happened when you were with the Iron Horde. Be still." She gently laid two fingers on his forehead, letting her own brand of magic go through him. With it, she saw into his mind. The glimpse was brief, but enough. She pulled away from him, a fine sheen of sweat beading up on her forehead as she did so.

"Did you just… I didn't know you could read just anyone's mind, Your Majesty," said one of the healers.

Sylvanas spared the female a glance. "It's a recent development," she told her, keeping her voice low. She had no desire to talk about the experiment she had conducted just the previous evening with one of her remaining Val'kyr. She turned back to the troll, "You heard these orcs talking about their orders to kill all of the Forsaken?"

He nodded.

"Orders that came from Garrosh Hellscream? They actually said that?"

Another nod.

"What does that mean?" asked Nathanos, who had joined her.

"It means that Garrosh Hellscream has a longer arm than I thought he did. I wonder whether he's given similar orders to –." The troll was nodding vigorously. "He did? They mentioned it?"

He nodded again, pointing to himself, and to one of the other healers, a tauren, before running one of the fingers of his good hand over his throat.

"He's ordered the Iron Horde to kill Forsaken, trolls, and tauren."

The troll pointed at her insistently.

"Oh. And me."


	22. Chapter 22

Everyone was on the ground. The ones who could breathe were panting with the effort of having tried to open the portal, while the Forsaken just shook from the effort it had taken.

"Well, that was a colossal waste of energy," muttered Faith. "What in the world happened?"

Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, Khadgar shook his head, "I have no idea. But whatever it was, we didn't manage to open a portal to get home. I didn't really think we would, but still, I thought we'd manage to do something."

Faith was the first one to stand. Panic threatened to overwhelm her. She couldn't get home? How was that possible? She closed her eyes, willing herself to remain calm.  _Everything's going to be okay._

She had to believe that.

Something must have shown on her face, because Rotvine put a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"

She nodded once, "For a moment, I really thought we were going home. But I guess it's a good thing we didn't manage it so fast."

"What do you mean?" asked Cerynne, slowly getting to her feet.

"I mean that if we'd managed to get home that quickly, the Iron Horde might have been right behind us."

"So, what? You're saying that we should go after them?"

"They have the Sands of Time."

Khadgar looked at her, "I suppose that would help us with the spell somehow. The problem is that Garrosh won't part with it easily. And I'm fairly certain he's going to be guarded by the entire Iron Horde."

"Wouldn't the Bronze Dragonflight make a portal to us, though?" asked Felix. "I thought you were friendly with them, Faith."

"Not that friendly. And they might wait a while to see how it plays out. Besides, last time I spoke to Chromie about it, she said that they were looking into it, because they thought that Kairoz had found a new way to manipulate the Vision of Time."

"Well, if the Bronze Dragonflight can't help us, I don't see what hope we have of ever getting home…"

* * *

_Dear Sylvanas,_

_I've been expecting your letter since I saw that Faith and the others had gone through the Dark Portal._

_Rest assured, we are working on a way to get everyone home. The answers lies with the Sands of Time, but we need more than a few days to figure it out. It hasn't been five days yet, I'm sure she's fine._

"Yeah, Chromie, I'm sure Faith is fine too…" she whispered to herself.

Five days. Had it only been five days? She felt like weeks had gone by since she had last seen her lover.

_You should be used to this by now. How many times have the two of you been separated? You've spent more time apart than you have together._

That was true. Even over the past few years that they'd been together, the hours they had spent away from each other were greater than the number of hours they'd spent in the same place.

"That's so wrong…"

"What is?"

Sylvanas jumped, taken by surprise when Nathanos walked in on her.

"Nathanos! What the hell are you doing in my chambers?"

"Faith's family's here. They seem to be worried."

Of course they were worried. The contrary would have astounded her. "Tell them I'll be right there. Oh, and Nathanos? Come into my chambers again, and you'll find yourself in the dungeons instead, understand?"

He nodded and left her alone. A few minutes later, she emerged, finding Atalo and Taisha in the visitor's room, holding hands and looking at each other with wide eyes. They stood when she walked into the room.

Taisha immediately got up, going to her and hugging her unexpectedly. "Oh, Sylvanas… you must be worried sick. Have you heard anything about our sun child?"

Surprised by the hug, Sylvanas shook her head, "No, I'm afraid not." She guided Taisha back to the chair she'd been occupying, sitting on the couch opposite her. Calmly, she told them everything she knew. Admittedly, it wasn't much, but she at least sounded like she had a plan of action, despite the fact that she didn't know how she was going to get Faith back.

"You seem very… tranquil, Sylvanas," commented Atalo.

"If I lost my mind every time Faith went missing, you would have to lock me up. Look, don't worry. As soon as I know something, I'll tell you, I promise."

"And you'll do everything you can to get her back?"

She nodded, "Of course I will. We already are. The Bronze Dragonflight is involved, it doesn't really get better than that."

Taisha looked like she wanted to argue, but Sylvanas raised her hand, "The best thing you two can do is go back to Thunder Bluff and wait for news. Unless either of you know anybody who's good with portals, that is."

They shook their heads, "Faith's the only one we know who can consistently deal with the creation of portals. Nobody in Thunder Bluff knows anything about it, except for the Forsaken at the Pools of Vision."

"Then do as I say and go home. Tell Hamu and Ishaka that we're working on it. Faith will be back before you know it."

"And do you think Garrosh will be dead?"

"If he's not and we can open a portal to Draenor, I'll go kill him myself."

* * *

"So what do you think is the best way to beat the Iron Horde?" Felix asked Faith. They had just gotten back to Frostwall and were sitting in the cave to avoid the worst of the snow that was falling thickly on the ground.

"That's easy enough," she said. "We go after its creator. That's why we're here, isn't it?"

"And how do we find him?"

"He'll be with the Warsong Clan," said Thrall. "They're located in Nagrand."

"So we have to go to Nagrand."

"We can't just go charging into Nagrand, Felix. There just aren't enough of us to take on the entire Iron Horde, even if we factor the Alliance in."

"So what you're saying is that we can't go after the Iron Horde until we get home, but we can't go home until after we get to the Iron Horde?" Felix sounded incredulous. "How does that work?"

"I think that the Frostwolf Clan will help us, not to mention the draenei," said Thrall quietly. "Although it still won't be enough."

"What about a Mak'gora?"

"Yeah, because a Mak'gora works so well against Garrosh," murmured Faith. "We're forgetting something else here."

"What's that?"

"The Burning Legion. They're preparing to invade Draenor, aren't they?"

Rotvine groaned, "I suppose that even though Garrosh changed the timeline's events by defeating Mannoroth before he could corrupt them, they're still going to invade."

"Mannoroth's defeat might make them hungrier to invade Draenor now," commented Liadrin. "And they're already here."

"Here we go, facing multiple enemies again."

Faith smiled grimly, "It's what we live for. But we're spread very thin as it is. We need allies." She turned to Thrall, "Would you mind coming with me to talk to the Frostwolves?"

He nodded, "Certainly. I'm sure they will help us against the Iron Horde and against the Burning Legion."

"How many of them are there, do you know?"

"Not, but we can ask Durotan. We'll also ask him if he knows of anybody else who can help us."

"Good. We'll go find him now. In the meantime, Carrick and Liadrin, I want you both to organize a scouting party to explore this area a little more thoroughly. We need to get the layout of the land. But be careful. We don't want any nasty surprises."

* * *

Nasty surprises. There were plenty of them in store for everyone.

The two teams that left the garrison returned a few days later, with reports of the Iron Horde and the Burning Legion. Faith, for her part, having gone to the Frostwolf village of Wor'gol, had seen the fortress of Bladespire Citadel, and had battled for over a week to free the orcs who had been enslaved by the ogres living there.

"This place is huge," commented Thrall. "It looks bigger than the village to me."

"It is," answered Faith, cleaning her spellblade before sheathing it again. "If the Frostwolves claim this place as their own, they'll be able to have a much wider territory to roam over."

"The only problem will be defending this area. If the Burning Legion and the Iron Horde are here in Frostfire Ridge, we'll have a difficult time keeping everyone safe."

"We need additional help, but I don't know who we could get it from. We can't really count on the Alliance to help us ere, being as they have their own problems in Shadowmoon Valley." Faith shook her head. Khadgar had come to them just the previous day, telling them that they had uncovered an Iron Horde fortress and a couple of Burning Legion encampments not far from their garrison. He was positive that these two were a scouting force.

Thrall pursed his lips briefly – the look was comical on an orc – before looking towards his father, "I don't want to put the Frostwolves in any more danger."

"I know, Thrall. Believe me, I know. But if we don't do something, forget the Iron Horde, the Legion will fully invade, and then we'll have a real mess on our hands."

"We're not doing so great right now, you know."

She knew. Despite their victory against the ogres, she was aware that they were all in a very precarious situation. She'd never before been in such a bad fix, with no way of calling for reinforcements. "I miss being able to go to Undercity and ask for additional troops."

"You guys still haven't been able to figure out a way to make a portal home, have you?"

She shook her head, "No, and I don't want to try it again. It drained me, and absolutely nothing happened, almost as though something were blocking our magic from functioning that way."

"Maybe something was."

"Regardless of what happened, we should consider ourselves isolated from home at the moment. We need to work with what we've got here, now." She tugged at the end of her braid, a nervous habit she'd had while living in Quel'Thalas, "Are there any orc tribes who haven't bent the knee to the Iron Horde?"

Thrall shook his head, "I honestly don't know. But Durotan might." He walked up to where his father was sitting, smiling and bowing briefly to him. After all these weeks spent together, the two of them had become, for lack of a better term, friends. Thrall hadn't disclosed anything about his past, and, as far as Faith knew, he wasn't going to tell him anything about being his son.

He did, however, give him an overview of their problem. Durotan nodded once, looking towards Faith.

"We have been feuding with the clan of the Laughing Skull orcs for quite a bit. They are a little rough around the edges, but I know that they have not joined the Iron Horde."

"Are they in Frostfire Ridge?" she asked.

"No. They make their home in Gorgrond. You can get there through a pass in the mountains, it's the fastest route."

"But?" prompted Faith.

Durotan appeared to wince, "It's crawling with Iron Horde orcs."

"So we would need to clear them out before we could even think about going there." She gave a nod, "We'll just have to do this one step at a time."

"What do you mean?"

"We're outnumbered. The moment our enemies figure that out, they'll attack us, and we won't be able to do anything about it. We do have one advantage: the Iron Horde is not working with the Burning Legion."

Thrall glanced at her, "What are you thinking?"

"Just that if we could get the Iron Horde and the Burning Legion to fight each other, we could let them deplete their own numbers without really needing to get involved."

"You really think that doing such a thing is going to work?"

Faith chuckled, "It worked when we went to Outland. From what I heard, people managed to get two ogre clans to kill each other in that manner, by planting evidence in both their camps."

Thrall began to laugh, his voice carrying around the large chamber they were in, "I remember that. But how exactly are you going to plant evidence in an Iron Horde encampment to make them think that the Burning Legion is after them?"

Faith, smiling slightly, waved her hand, chanting a few words. As she did so, the air shimmered around them, coalescing into a burning fel green rock that startlingly looked like it had come from an infernal.

"I think that this will be enough to convince them, don't you?" she asked, sounding almost innocent.

"You… you can summon infernals?" asked Thrall, sounding shocked.

"No," said Faith calmly. "I can summon illusions. I can transmogrify items. I can make people  _believe_  that they've been attacked by infernals and other demonic creatures, in theory, anyway. I've never tried it before, but I think that it could work."

"Will they not realize that it is an illusion?" wondered Durotan.

"They could." She paused. "But I'm fairly certain they won't."

* * *

The water was calm, almost too still for an ocean, and reflecting the few stars that filtered through the haze that usually hung in the sky of Tirisfal Glades.

Sylvanas walked along the beach, keeping an eye out for murlocs. Her feet left soft imprints in the wet sand, and if she focused, she was almost able to see Faith's footprints next to hers.

It had only been a few days, but she could already feel herself unraveling without her lover. As though the tendrils that kept her anchored to the world were snapping one by one, rendering her more and more insane.

Could she survive without Faith? She had tried before, and it had been horrible. She hated to remember those times, both when she'd been in the Scourge, and when she had thought Faith dead, lost somewhere in Vashj'ir. They were the only times she'd had absolutely no contact with her.

Even when she'd been in Outland, they'd been able to write.

Outland…

"By the Sun…" she whispered.

She ran back to Venom so fast that she startled him. The ride back to the Ruins of Lordaeron was done at breakneck speed, and she didn't stop until she had reached the Orb of Translocation.

She landed at Sunfury Spire in a heap, her cloak over her head. She straightened up, noticing that a guard was staring at her with his mouth half-open, and nearly ran out of the room to find Lor'themar.

"Sylvanas!" he cried, surprised when he saw her. "What are you doing… what's wrong?"

"What if we make a portal to Outland?" she said.

"Outland?" he repeated. "What do you mean?"

"We make a portal to Outland, and from there, we try to make a portal to Draenor. Wouldn't it be easier than trying from Azeroth?"

Grand Magister Rommath heard her, and walked out of his office, his eyebrows raised, "It's worth a try. That way, we would only have to account for time instead of having to think of the location of the planet as well." He tapped his chin, "Although I can't be sure that we'll be able to get to the correct version of Draenor. It could be disastrous if we land in an entirely different timeway."

"Can't you question members of the Iron Horde?"

"I don't think they would be able to tell us which timeway they came from. We can't even answer that about our own timeway. Only the Bronze Dragonflight can do that."

"Then ask them!" cried Sylvanas, agitated.

"We will," said Rommath, raising his hands and making a calming gesture. "It's a good idea, Sylvanas, thank you. I'll admit, I didn't even think about using Outland as a conduit."

"Can it be done?" wondered Lor'themar.

"We won't know until we try, will we?" Rommath nodded, "I'll gather the mages here. In the meantime, we should contact the Bronze Dragonflight and see how they'd be able to help us."

"I'll do that," said Sylvanas, already turning around to go back to Undercity. "Come to me if anything changes."

"You don't want to stay with us until we open the portal?"

She shook her head, "I will wait for you to open the portal, and be ready with members Undercity Infantry. You'd best get your people ready to invade Draenor. Who knows what we're going to encounter if we manage to get there."

* * *

Over the snowy plains of Draenor, a snowbird flew, its feathers white, camouflaging it against the snowy skies. It soared over hills, seeing everything, although it didn't understand what was there.

Camps and fortresses strung with the banners of the Iron Horde, ringing with the sounds of steel and orcish laughter. Some ways away, the Burning Legion gathered in two camps in the east, both of which were filled with one hundred demons apiece.

The bird kept flying, passing very close to a lone figure whose oval-shaped green eyes surveyed the land from a hill. She was unafraid, and stood tall, her red skin burning with demonic scars. Fel-streaked horns curved towards the white sky, making her look as fierce as any other eredar that walked the world.

Her name was Kythira, Lady Kythira. She had been born on Argus, and had seen the glory of the Burning Legion for herself. She pledged her life to it, and had pledged to serve it until her dying breath. For thousands of years, she had wreaked havoc upon worlds, terrifying everyone who had dared raise a sword to her masters.

And as she looked upon the valley nestled against the lava pool, she wondered whether the people there would attempt to fight her, or whether they would bend the knee to them.

She looked forward to finding out.


	23. Chapter 23

The two buildings that had been under construction when Faith had left Frostwall were now built. The wall that enclosed their garrison was higher as well, and more imposing, having been shielded with magic.

Wooden lampposts had been erected around the area to provide more light, distinctly reminding Faith of the lights around Tirisfal Glades. She smiled. It was almost like being home.

She inspected the magic tower, finding it to be exactly what she'd had in mind. Three stories high, it could double as a watchtower, and already had two guards stationed there.

"You did some nice spellwork here to keep everything together," she told the mages. "Good job."

"Thank you, Commander," said Felix, holding his head high.

The armory had also been completed, and had been stocked with many of the weapons they'd had when they had arrived. Faith also noticed other weapons: makeshift spears tipped with sharp shards of rock, and wooden pots filled with flammable fat, probably gathered from the beasts that roamed Frostfire Ridge.

A fourth building was currently being erected, one that would serve as an alchemy laboratory, next to which the foundation was being built for what would be a storage shed.

"This is really great," commented Thrall. "Things are coming along nicely."

"We've done something to the cave as well. The garden is growing well, and we've established a leatherworking area for all the furs we get and everything."

Faith smiled, "Sounds good. Looks like you guys don't need me at all."

"Of course we need you!" said Rotvine. "Especially considering everything we've found out."

"About what?"

"About the Iron Horde practically being at our doorstep. There's this enormous skeleton about an hour's walk from here, and it's crawling with their forces. One of the orcs with us said it was home to the Thunderlord Clan."

Faith cursed softly, "I wish we'd known that the Iron Horde was that close. We might have built our garrison elsewhere. I suppose they know we're here."

"Maybe not. They didn't appear to be looking this way at all."

"We're not that hard to miss, though."

"I don't suppose we are," said Thrall. "But since they haven't seen us yet, we should be more careful. Is there a way to shield us all from prying eyes?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Faith told him. "Not on this kind of scale, anyway. We'll double our watch, just to be sure."

"Have you spoken to Khadgar?" asked Felix.

"Not for a while now. I was hoping to talk to him soon, but he would have come to us if he had found a way to get home."

"We've been here almost two months."

A nod, "Yeah, I know. Two months, and we haven't gotten any closer to finding Garrosh."

"It's taken us this long just to be able to do this," Felix waved his hand around. "And it's not like we haven't done anything at all. I mean, you guys helped the Frostwolf orcs secure Bladespire Citadel. That's something."

"Not enough," said Liadrin, joining them as they walked around the garrison. "Faith's right, we should be doing more. The only problem is that we don't have enough people."

Not enough people. Ever since they'd arrived on Draenor, the fact that they were alone and cut off from home had plagued them all. They were spread too thin, like butter scraped over too much bread. They didn't have an adequate amount of weapons, and even counting the Alliance, their foothold on Draenor was precarious at best.

Faith closed her eyes. What would Sylvanas do?

* * *

A bell was ringing.

_The_  bell was ringing.

Sylvanas left her office, abandoning a letter she'd been writing, and ran down the corridors of Undercity, along the canals until she reached the Central Square, where several dozen soldiers had converged.

"Who's attacking us?" she asked the nearest guard.

"The Iron Horde, Your Majesty," he said. "They are converging upon the Ruins of Lordaeron from Lordamere Lake."

"From  _Lordamere_? Are you sure?"

The guard nodded, "That is what we heard."

She had expected an attack, but not from there. They'd never be able to get anywhere if they attacked from there, the rocks that surrounded the city in that area were too high.

"Here, my Lady, I got Venom for you."

Sylvanas turned her head, looking at Nathanos. She nodded, saying nothing, before vaulting onto Venom's back and charging through the city until she reached the ruins. Bat riders were already in the air, and she followed them to the wall that faced the lake.

"Are those rafts?" she asked no one in particular. The fact that Iron Horde, orcs that had presumably been trained by Garrosh, were attacking on rafts was ridiculous. "This is a trap. It has to be."

It was, and had she not been expecting it, she might have fallen for it. As it was, three of her Forsaken fell before she could cry out a warning, horribly crushed and maimed as orc shaman split the ground beneath the eastern side of the wall.

_Well-played_ , she thought, ordering a volley of arrows to be fired against the oncoming attack. Only two of her own arrows hit, the shaman turning the other ones to harmless sticks that they batted away with a hand.

They were going to need help to counter the spellcasters. Sylvanas had no idea how they were going to manage to make that happen, considering the fact that they barely had any mages on hand.

A few tauren druids joined her on the wall, and performed their own spells to slow the shaman down, but it didn't do much. And yet, the shaman weren't coming into the city.

"Your Majesty!" called Nathanos.

Sylvanas felt herself being wrenched backwards, and put her arm up just in time to counter a blow that shattered her bones from her shoulder down to her fingers. She screamed, despite herself, as pain rolled over her. The orc who had hit her, a wild-looking female with brown skin and broken yellow tusks, got ready to hit her again.

"Warchief Garrosh sends his regards," she snarled.

"Tell him I send mine," hissed Sylvanas, using her good arm to grab a dagger from where it was sheathed at her leg. A second later, she'd plunged the blade into the orc's neck. The orc's eyes widened, and she immediately coughed out a spray of blood. The mace she had been carrying clattered to the ground.

Nathanos ran over, kicking the orc away. He cursed when he saw the state of Sylvanas' arm. "Oh, my Lady…" he whispered. "You're going to be okay."

"I know I'm going to be okay, Nathanos," she told him. She grit her teeth and got to her feet, but was forced to lean on him for support. "Get me back up there."

"You're good, Sylvanas, but that arm is useless as it is. You need to get it healed. Faith would have my head on a spike if I let you stay hurt."

"Faith isn't nearly that violent," she said quietly. She tried to take a step forward, but her world swayed alarmingly. A growl of frustration escaped her throat.

"Let's get you inside. Don't worry about the attack, they're already retreating."

"Retreating?" she asked, surprised. "Why would they be retreating?" She was down, it was the perfect time to attack.

"Because one of the mages we have left went to Silvermoon and brought some reinforcements with him. Did you know that warlocks are very powerful against shaman?"

"I never really thought about it, to be honest."

"You should. I know that you've been focused more on mages as of late, but our warlocks are actually very good."

They were. Her best ones had been incorporated into the Magi Corps, while others had been deployed on various campaigns throughout Azeroth.

She waited until she was positive that the attack was over before going back into the city and ordering several members of the Undercity Infantry Regiment to track the Iron Horde down. "Kill all but one," she said. "Bring the live one back to me for interrogation."

"We already knew Garrosh had sent them to kill you," Nathanos told her as he brought her to the healers.

"Doesn't mean I'm not going to interrogate one of them."

"You are aware that they'll never talk, right? Even under torture?"

Sylvanas smiled grimly, "We'll see."

* * *

Faith, Rotvine, and Felix moved quietly, strong potions and spells keeping them as invisible as possible. Around them, orcs tore strips of red meat from bones, laughing at jokes and swallowing mugs of ale. On the fire, enormous slabs of clefthoof meat were roasting, tended to by a female dressed in thick grey furs.

Already, a guard lay dead at the entrance to the camp, the snow around him crimson with blood. Faith had make sure to leave clear demonic traces there, her spellwork having worked a little too well when she'd tested it at the garrison. Liadrin had been genuinely scared for a moment, until she'd seen the look on Faith's face.

_Even Liadrin was fooled_ , she said to herself as she and Rotvine used another spell to create the illusion of fel blood in the camp, next to another orc Felix had killed silently.

Of course, there was a possibility the Thunderlord orcs wouldn't fall for the deception. The Burning Legion was rarely stealthy when it attacked. As a matter of fact, Faith had only ever seen full-scale attacks by the demonic horde, nothing like what she and her companions were currently attempting.

But it was worth a shot.

They retreated half an hour later, having killed three others, and having left bits and pieces of what appeared to be demonic entrails. The result was convincing to them, but the biggest show was yet to come.

"Ready?" Faith asked the others.

They nodded. Together, they began to chant as one, their voices low. Fel green magic seemed to coalesce suddenly over the Thunderlord clan's village, demonic lightning blazing through the sky.

They heard a startled shout, followed by a roar of rage as the first of the bodies was discovered.

"Demons!" someone cried from within their camp as the magic dissipated. "The Burning Legion!"

Faith nodded, "We've done all we can. Let's get out of here."

"How will we know if it worked?" asked Felix.

"Druids. I have some stationed nearby in their flight forms, ready to follow the orcs for a while. The orcs have never seen druids before, so they won't know how to identify the birds."

They went back to Frostwall, where Durotan was waiting with Thrall and several others. Another team came in immediately after them, led by Izzy Grimwheel, the goblin Faith had met in Orgrimmar during the siege against Garrosh.

"How did it go?" asked Durotan.

Faith nodded, "Good. They seemed to fall for it, at any rate. How did it go for you guys, Izzy?"

Izzy grinned, "Very well. We left traces all over the place. If the orcs follow it, it'll lead them towards the Burning Legion camp."

"How long do you think it'll take them to act?" asked Thrall.

"I don't know. It could be hours, it could be days. Or maybe they won't do anything at all."

They didn't have long to wait. One of their druids reported that a party of Thunderlords had found Izzy's trace, and that they had engaged the demons who had been patrolling around the eastern camp. None of the orcs had survived, something nobody had actually counted on. But it was welcome news.

"They're moving!" reported Liadrin the following day. "We saw them – half of Grom'gar has been emptied."

"Good!" said Faith. "That's very good!"

"I can't believe it worked," said Rotvine, sounding stunned. "You think it'll work a second time?"

"Let's not push our luck," Faith told him. "They may not even manage to do anything this time around."

But she was wrong about that. The druids who observed the fight from above reported that the orc's attack on the Burning Legion's camp was a great success. Every demon there, including a commander, was killed. In addition, almost half of the orcish forces were killed, while the rest were badly injured.

"Unbelievable," breathed Liadrin. "We did it."

Faith was having a hard time realizing that the plan she'd come up with and executed had worked as well as it had. Still, she tried to keep a level head about the whole situation. "Good job, all of you. I told Khadgar what we had been up to, and they said they were going to implement a similar plan against the Burning Legion and the Iron Horde in Shadowmoon Valley. Let's hope their plan works as well as ours did."

* * *

Several days went by, during which Faith heard from Khadgar who told her that they had managed to thwart attacks from the Iron Horde, although they hadn't been able to get them to attack the demons in Shadowmoon Valley.

"But I'm happy with what we managed to do," he said. "I think we scared them enough so that they won't try to bother us again."

Faith nodded, "Good. Let us know if they do, we'll come lend you a hand."

"You will? We're Alliance."

"You're from Azeroth," Faith told him simply.

"And you'll go back to hating us when we get home?"

A chuckle, "Something like that."

"Sounds good to me. Listen, Faith… there's something else I want to talk to you about. Well, not me. It's Arator."

A frown creased Faith's features, "Is he all right?"

"Oh, yes, he's fine. It's just… he wants to look for his parents. You understand."

"Hi  _parents_? Here? I thought you guys had landed in Outland, all together? He thinks they're here?"

"It's a possibility."

"One I hadn't considered," said Faith quietly. "How would they end up here, though?"

"The same way we did, maybe. I don't know. I don't actually think they're here. They weren't in Outland, and we scoured every inch of what was left of that planet, so I can only conclude that they either died, or they went somewhere else."

Faith gave a nod, "So Arator wants to look for them, in case they somehow ended up in this version of Draenor."

"Yes, and he's afraid to ask you to help him, because he knows you have other things on your mind."

"I do, but we're talking about Sylvanas' sister. I'll help him any way I can. I just have no idea where to start looking for them."

"Could you come back with me and talk to him?"

"Of course. Lead the way."

She followed him through a portal, landing just outside Lunarfall. Together, they entered the garrison, finding Arator in the barracks, reading what appeared to be a prayer book. He looked up when they entered, and immediately got to his feet.

"Aunt Faith… did he tell you?" he asked.

"He did. Hi, Arator."

"Hello." He put his book down, "You'll help me?"

"As much as I can."

A fleeting smile lit his face, "Thanks, Faith, that means a lot. Where would you like to start?"

"You tell me, this is your idea."

He led her out of the barracks, thanking Khadgar on the way, "I don't really know."

"Why don't you start by telling me why you think your parents would be on Draenor, when we know they disappeared from Outland?"

Arator nodded once, and began.

* * *

The sun had set. It didn't make much difference in Tirisfal Glades – the light didn't change much whether it was day or night, but the stars were out.

Another day had ended without her having any idea about whether Faith was all right.

Sylvanas, her arm mending thanks to the healers Nathanos had taken her to, was supervising the mending of the eastern wall that surrounded the Ruins of Lordaeron. The orc shaman had really done a number on it, but shaman from Thunder Bluff had arrived to lend a hand, along with Silvermoon mages.

Even Vol'jin had come, wanting to make sure that everything was all right.

"Dese orcs must have been here for some time," he commented. "I cannot imagine dem having crossed all of da Eastern Kingdoms in a week."

"It could be done with magic," Nathanos said to him. "We talked to some of the tauren shaman, and they told us that with the right spells, they could cut their travel time considerably."

"But dis be not travel on da seas, Blightcaller. Dis be travel on land."

Nathanos nodded once, "Yes, but can shaman not shapeshift into spirit wolves? That would help their travel, wouldn't it?"

"Not by that much," said Sylvanas, not even looking at him. "How fast do you think wolves travel? It would still take weeks for them to get this far north. But I do agree that they might have used spells to get here faster."

"It does not really matter how long dey have been here. What matters is what dey be capable of."

"Apparently they're capable of a lot more than I gave them credit for. We're lucky they didn't use fire against us, or I may not be standing here talking to you."

"They'll probably use fire the next time they attack," said Nathanos.

Sylvanas agreed. "I've asked our spellcasters to put wards around the entire city. Hopefully it will slow them down. It's like fighting the Scourge, but in reverse."

"If you need more members of da Horde to stay here, all you need to do is ask," said Vol'jin quietly.

"Thank you. I'll probably take you up on that offer, Warchief." She winced as she moved her bad shoulder. It had been completely shattered, and the healers could only mend it a bit at a time, using holy magic, which was excruciating. For once, she was happy that Faith wasn't nearby: she would have lost her mind at seeing her in pain like that. Again.

"Did the forces from Tranquillien come back?" wondered Nathanos.

A nod, "About an hour ago, yes. I didn't realize so many of them were still stationed there now that the Scourge is gone." It had been a shock when Mavren and the rest of the Quel'Thalas Forsaken had come to the throne room. Sylvanas had counted nearly two hundred people there. All of them, she knew, were seasoned warriors.

"Faith thought it best to keep them there, just in case. I told her she was being ridiculous."

Sylvanas only just suppressed a smile, "No, she was being cautious. Quel'Thalas was our home, remember? You lived there too, once."

"Yes, I know."

"Good. Then you understand Faith's motivation for keep troops there. I'm glad she did."

"You'd be glad if she took a notion to stand on her head all day," muttered Nathanos in such a low voice that Sylvanas chose to ignore him.

She stayed at the wall for a while before taking a walk through the rest of the ruins and making sure there had been no other breaches. Nathanos and Vol'jin stayed with her, also accompanying her back down to the throne room, where they found a visitor.

A gnome, whose form radiated power.

Chromie.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Bonus points to anybody who can find the Lord of the Rings quote I stuffed into this chapter!


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's note:**

I love getting reviews. It's one of my favorite things about writing: interacting with those of you who read. So, please, if you like what I've written – and even if you don't! – keep writing to me!

With that said - this chapter's a little raw, you'll have to forgive me for that!

* * *

Chromie. Sylvanas's heart no longer beat inside her chest, but at that moment, it wanted to beat.

Did she have news about Faith?

She must have made some kind of noise, because Chromie smiled at her.

"Don't get your hopes up," she said quickly.

"Too late," said Nathanos. "She's already looking for Faith."

Chromie's eyes flickered to Nathanos once before she looked back at Sylvanas, "Nozdormu had five of us working nonstop on this, and we might have something."

"Might?" asked Sylvanas, her voice hoarse.

The dragon nodded, "Right. We went back to the Temple of the White Tiger and collected the sands that swirled out of the portal Kairoz created. It wasn't easy, because the pandaren swept the area thoroughly after the battle, but they missed one area where sand gathered behind one of the benches."

Sylvanas licked her lips, "You… you know where Faith is?"

"Certainly, we know where Faith is. We just didn't know how to get to her. Until now."

Sylvanas' hands were shaking. She couldn't speak.

"Oh, stop torturing her, please," said Nathanos.

Another smile, "All right. We think we might have found the key to opening a portal to the same Draenor our forces went to. But we have no way of knowing whether we're right. We also know nothing about the timeline they're on."

"It's got to be a past Draenor," whispered Sylvanas. "Apparently, they defeated Mannoroth, which means it must be a Draenor on the verge of being invaded by the Burning Legion. You think you have the right timeline."

"We do," said Chromie. "Because we analyzed some of the orc blood at the Dark Portal, and it seems to be compatible with the sands we recovered, if you'll allow me that concept."

"How much of the sands do you have?" asked Vol'jin. "How many portals can you make?"

"Three, for now."

"Three?" exclaimed Sylvanas.

"That's right. But the portals can be maintained by mages. The problem now is finding a neutral area to make the portal in. It won't be easy, considering the fact that the Horde can no longer go to Dalaran."

"What about Shattrath City?" wondered Sylvanas. "We have portals open there permanently, don't we?"

"We do, and it's a good idea because then we'd be able to open a portal to Draenor's Shattrath City. But if I'm not mistaken, if the timing is right and the Burning Legion is currently invading Draenor, it means that Shattrath City will be under almost constant attack."

Sylvanas pursed her lips, "So we need to have people ready to fight the Burning Legion there."

Chromie nodded quickly, "And we should have draenei go through first, otherwise, the citizens of Shattrath will be a little… startled. Especially if we have Forsaken going through."

"So I would imagine."

"When will you be trying?" Vol'jin asked Chromie.

"Soon. You just all need to be prepared if it doesn't work. You also need to be very prepared in case it  _does_  work."

Sylvanas turned to Nathanos, "Make sure that the Undercity Infantry is ready. How many people did you say you had?"

"At least fifty warriors are ready to leave right away. We have about twenty rangers and rogues, along with fifteen cavalry, and another fifteen healers, mostly priests and paladins from Silvermoon City."

"That's a hundred people ready to leave now. Anybody else?"

"Mavren's team, but they need to be outfitted."

"Get that done now." She turned to Vol'jin, "How about from Orgrimmar?"

"We have a couple of hundred people ready to go at short notice. And I think Baine will have more people ready to go as well. So will Lor'themar."

"The pandaren, too," said Chromie. "And I daresay that the Alliance will have hundreds of people ready to go, not to mention the warriors on Outland."

"All right, we'll get that done. Chromie, when and where would you like to reconvene?"

"Let's try tomorrow in Orgrimmar with the leaders of the Horde. I will also have meetings in Stormwind with the Alliance to see where they stand. We should probably have someone go to Shattrath as well to inform people of what's going on."

"It shouldn't be a problem once dey find out dat Khadgar, Faith, and Arator are dere," said Vol'jin. "I will go back to Orgrimmar right away. Do you have anybody who could go to Silvermoon?"

Sylvanas nodded, "Ambassador Sunsorrow will go and talk to Lor'themar for me." She glanced at where he was standing with a few other Sin'dorei ambassadors, and he nodded, leaving the throne room.

"Let's go, then," said Chromie.

* * *

The sun was actually peeking through the dense clouds that covered Frostfire Ridge.

Faith looked up at it, enjoying the way it made the frosty air shimmer. After two months, she was beginning to appreciate the beauty of the place, the way the fire of the volcanoes contrasted with the drifts of snow and ice that covered the landscape.

Still, she was eager to explore more of Draenor, and find out more about the Laughing Skull clan in Gorgrond.

To that end, she had put a team together who would be traveling there, passing through one of the Frostwolf settlements nearby to pick up more people. She was sending Felix with the team, understanding that he would create portals wherever he would settle, and connect them with Frostwall.

"Be careful," she told him. "Listen to Thrall the way you would Sylvanas."

He nodded, "I will. You be careful too against the Iron Horde."

"I'm always careful. See you soon."

He and his team left shortly thereafter, using several furs and leather hides as transportation - Khadgar had showed them how to put enough spells on them to get them to move.

"That is an awesome spell," Rotvine told her as he watched them go. "I never thought about doing that before."

Faith hadn't either, although, truth be told, she hadn't needed anything like that, having always had a mount with her. "It'll be useful for those of us without the ability to use living mounts."

Rotvine nodded, "Will you be using them?"

Faith merely pointed to a leather skin that she had colored black and violet with a spell. She had tried it a couple of times, and found that it levitated about eight feet off the ground. She found that it was only marginally slower than riding Venom, but it was worth it for the height boost.

"The spell lasts for two weeks without needing to be renewed, and that particular hide holds three people. It's faster than walking, which is exactly what I want here. You should get one for yourself."

"I am. It's not big, but it does the trick. And the fact that it floats several feet off the ground is definitely a bonus. Were you planning on sending me somewhere?"

"I was. When I last saw Khadgar, he mentioned that some of their people were going to go to Talador. They've given us safe passage through Shadowmoon Valley if we wanted to send a team there, and I'm planning on it."

"Talador. Is that what Terokkar Forest was before Draenor became Outland?"

Faith nodded, "Yes. So we'll be able to go to Shattrath City."

Rotvine stared at her, "Wait. Shattrath?"

"I know what you're thinking. Khadgar and I had the same idea. We may be able to open a portal from this version of Shattrath to Outland's. But who knows whether it'll actually work."

"You've been holding on to this idea and you haven't burst with it?" he asked her incredulously. "You don't want to see Sylvanas anymore?"

"Should I even bother to dignify that with an answer?"

He chuckled, "When would you like me to leave?"

"Whenever you have a team ready to go. You can take people from here, and some Frostwolves."

"Frostwolves? Durotan is letting them come along?"

"He is. I guess he's like us: he figures that in order to save his people, he needs to save the planet from the forces that threatens it."

"That, and I think he admires you."

"Admires me? There's nothing to admire."

"Of course there is. He admired you ever since Thrall named you commander of the Horde forces on Draenor. To him, that's the highest validation anybody could ever give someone."

Not really knowing what to say, Faith reached into the bag around her waist and brought out tightly rolled leathers that had been treated with oils in order to soften them up. She had dyed them black, white and red with a few spells, making them look like pieces of clothing.

"I figured you could use these if you manage to find any members of the Laughing Skull clan," she said. "It's not much, but it's the best we can do here, so you should try to offer them your help, if you can."

Rotvine nodded, "This is perfect. I'll make sure to check back with you every once we get settled there."

"I implore you, be careful. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you."

He smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine. It'll be fun to explore this new world a little. Well, this new old world, such as it is."

He departed a couple of days later for Wor'gol, taking several people with him and leaving the garrison looking a little deserted. Faith and Liadrin were left alone to look after things.

"So," said the leader of the Blood Knights, "what would you like to do? We're alone, we can do whatever we want!"

Faith chuckled, "We're hardly alone, Liadrin."

"All right, so we're not exactly alone. But most of the men are gone."

"Well, what I usually do with Sylvanas when we're alone is something I'm definitely not going to do with you," she said as Liadrin burst into giggles. She smiled back, then looked around. Most of the people who were left were working on new buildings that were going up, and warriors who patrolled the perimeter. "I'll go on patrol in a little bit to relieve some of the other soldiers. We'll need to have more rotations there, since there are fewer people to handle it."

"We'll take care of it, don't worry."

Faith shook her head, "I'm not used to being the one who stays behind, you know? I'm always the one going places and reporting back to people. I don't know how the leaders do it."

"It takes a certain amount of trust in the people you lead. You have to know that they're going to do what you've asked of them without question. There are some people under my command that I would trust with my life," she smiled. "A guy back home – Kevan Bloodvale. I know that he will always follow my orders to the letter. I never have problems leaving him in charge."

"Bloodvale," said Faith quietly. "I think I remember his family. Eastvale, right? His father was human?"

Liadrin nodded, "Yes. He fell to the Scourge during the first wave in Lordaeron. His mother is still missing. But he has two sisters who are paladins like him. They're good, but he's the one I trust the most."

The way she was speaking made Faith grin, "You  _trust_  him. Sure, sure." An image formed in her mind of the man Liadrin was talking about. Of medium height, maybe slightly shorter than Liadrin, he had long black hair and a face that was almost effeminate, but strong at the same time. Definitely handsome – if one liked that sort of thing.

"Nothing's ever happened… he works under me."

"I'm sure he does," Faith told her, unable to suppress a small bout of laughter.

Liadrin just looked at her, "I'm serious. He's a good man, but I'm his superior. It wouldn't be proper to have a relationship with him, regardless of how I feel."

"Here's something I've learned over the past few years: life is short. Too short to hold your feelings back. If you feel something for this guy, you should tell him."

"I don't  _feel_  anything for him. Not like that. As I said, I trust him with my life."

"And you're blushing as you say it, Liadrin. You look like my sister did when she was trying to convince us that she  _didn't_  like Santoran as more than a good friend." She held up a hand, "I won't press you on this point, don't worry."

"Thank you."

They parted ways shortly thereafter, Liadrin going to supervise the building of the stables, and Faith leaving to patrol around the garrison.

She was on her own, which gave her time to think about everything as she reinforced spells on the walls that surrounded the area.

What would she do if, by any chance, they found themselves unable to return to Azeroth? Would she be able to spend the rest of her life, however long it would be, away from Sylvanas? Her unbeating heart seemed to tighten in her chest as she imagined it. Despair chased away hope, trying to settle into her very soul.

_Stop that._ _You_ _'_ _ll get home, you said so yourself._

So focused was she on what she was feeling that she didn't notice the figure that was trailing her from a few paces away.

* * *

"Roast pig! Come get your roast pig!"

"Furs from Pandaria this way! Twenty gold – a bargain!"

Sylvanas hadn't been in Orgrimmar on a market day in quite some time. It was a little unnerving to see orcs peddling their wares the same way elves did in Silvermoon. But there was no denying the fact that it was effective. People milled around various stalls, buying food and raw materials, also taking the time to catch up with each other. Garrosh had discouraged this type of behavior and most of the citizens of the city were happy to have this small tradition restored to them.

Pulling the hood of her cloak tighter around her face to shield her from the sun, she walked briskly towards Grommash Hold, where Vol'jin was waiting for her with the other leaders of the Horde. She knew she was late, for the inexperienced mages that had remained in Undercity hadn't been able to keep a portal open to Orgrimmar, forcing her to catch one from Silvermoon.

 _I'll have to talk to the Magi Corps to train these new recruits_ , she said to herself, only now beginning to realize how much she'd come to count on Faith and Rotvine over the past few years.

"Sorry about that," she told everyone once she was inside the hold. "I forgot how long it can take to travel here without portals at the ready."

"Imagine if you'd have to come by ship," said Lor'themar, grinning.

"Without Faith?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

Baine made a shocked sound, but started to laugh. "Oh, honestly."

"I'll second the fact that it's better to make a long trip with a warm body by your side," said Saurfang, trying to keep a straight face, but failing.

"Not so warm, considering the fact that both Faith and myself are undead."

Chromie chuckled, "It's good that you've brought her up, because we're ready to try for a portal to Draenor."

"You've really managed it, then?" asked Halduron, who was standing next to Lor'themar.

"We think so, yes."

"How did you do it so quickly, if I may ask?" wondered Saurfang.

"We stopped time."

Sylvanas stared at her, "Pardon?"

"There were five of us working on this nonstop. We went somewhere played with time a little so that we would be able to work on this quicker, at least from your point of view. Only eight days have passed here, but, really, we have been working on this almost nonstop for a month."

Silence greeted this statement. Each person present in Grommash Hold realized suddenly just how much magic must have gone into the research the dragons had performed.

Vol'jin was the first to speak, "Thank you," he said. "On behalf of all of us here, and on behalf of the Alliance as well – I think I can speak for dem when I say dat."

Chromie inclined her head, "We were not about to let so many people from Azeroth stay lost on another planet. Not again, not when we have the means to get them back."

Sylvanas closed her eyes briefly, remembering the last day she had spent with her sister Alleria, before she had left them. Before she had gotten lost.

" _You're already Ranger-General. There's nothing else I can teach you."_

" _You're my older sister, Alleria. There's a lot more you can teach me."_

" _Then let it be this: don't keep your feelings hidden, it's not fair to either of you."_

She hadn't needed to ask who Alleria had been talking about.

Not for the first time, Sylvanas wondered what her sister would say if she were with them. What she would say about her being the Banshee Queen of the Forsaken. Of the way she and Faith had finally let go and had decided to be together, no matter the cost.

Would she be proud? Horrified? Scared?

She could only guess.

* * *

A noise made Faith turn around. There was nobody behind her, but that didn't mean anything. She'd done enough sneaking around to know that many people could avoid being seen if they wished.

She kept walking, but stopped again after a minute.

There was definitely someone there.

She closed her eyes, allowing her other senses to expand. She heard the wind through the snowdrifts, an animal – probably a wolf – hunting near the treeline to her right, heard the rustling of leaves –.

She released her spell even before she'd fully thought it out, a column of flame launching straight from the palm of her hand and hitting an invisible barrier to her left.

There was the sound of laughter. Not the kind of laughter that made one smile, more like the kind that would make the hair at the back of one's neck stand on end. It was evil. Malicious.

Someone materialized from the shadows. A female eredar wearing green armor that exactly matched the color of the glowing fel tattoos etched on her red skin. Her black lips were pulled back in a sneer as she stared at Faith, wicked-looking staff pointing at her.

"I have been watching you," she said by way of an introduction.

"Have you?" replied Faith.

The eredar nodded, "Oh, yes. You are strong. And… raised from the grave. But you are well-preserved, compared to your other dead friends."

Faith said nothing, merely planning a move. She felt immense power emanating from this eredar, immediately realizing that she wouldn't be able to defeat her through conventional means.

"We could use someone like you."

A slow blink. Faith began to laugh. "You are offering me a place within the Burning Legion," she commented. Her laughter died away a second later, " _Never_. You vile fiends tried to destroy my world and created the plague that killed most of my people. I would rather die another thousand deaths than be associated with the likes of you."

Arcane energies began to flow around her, swirling blue and violet.

"You cannot fight me," she said. "I am Legion. I am stronger than you are. All you can do is bow down before me, and join our burning crusade throughout the world."

" _Never_ , I said!" cried Faith.

"So be it." The eredar stabbed her staff through the air, absorbing the arcane energies Faith had conjured around herself. A second later, she hurled them back at her, and Faith was sent flying into a large rock. Pain blossomed in a dozen places, and she fought to regain her feet as, laughing, the demonic creature launched herself at her, swinging her staff.

Faith barely managed to parry it with her spellblade, her black fire engulfing the colored steel. She kicked out once, twice, catching the eredar in the belly. She stumbled backwards, snarling.

"You cannot defeat Lady Kythira!" she cried.

"Maybe not, but you can't kill me if you can't catch me," said Faith, suddenly teleporting.

She landed in a heap at the entrance to Frostwall, her head spinning.

"Commander!" cried one of the Forsaken who had been reinforcing the gates. "By the Dark Lady, what happened to you?" He helped her to her feet and got her inside while she firmly locked the gates with a spell.

"Get me Liadrin," she hissed. "Now, soldier, please."

He nodded, leaving her where she was and running off. Someone else came to her, a tauren brave, who picked her up and carried her inside the barracks.

Liadrin arrived seconds afterwards, several Forsaken soldiers in tow.

"Are you injured?" she asked.

"I'll be all right."

"What happened?"

"An eredar attacked me. I have no idea where she came from, but she said she'd been observing me."

"That's creepy…" said one of the soldiers. "Did you kick her ass?"

Faith chuckled darkly, "No, but she handed me mine. She was strong, Liadrin. And she made me an offer to join the Burning Legion."

Liadrin stared at her, "She must have been observing you for quite some time if she already came to the conclusion that you should join them. She attacked you when you refused, I suppose."

"Of course. We would have all done the same." She winced as the tauren, a druid, passed a hand over her back to heal her. "She said her name was Lady Kythira. Have you ever heard of such an eredar?"

The Blood Knight matriarch shook her head, "No, but that doesn't mean much. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people under the Legion's command, some of whom we've met before, some that we haven't. Maybe this one stayed in Outland in the timeline we have, or maybe she was killed with Archimonde in Teldrassil at the end of the Third War."

"She may attack Frostwall now. I don't know whether we'll be able to defend ourselves against a full-scale assault by the Burning Legion."

"We'll worry about it later."

"Liadrin, we have to worry about it now."

"We'll send someone to the Frostwolves. Maybe they'll be able to help us. I know you don't want to put them in harm's way, Faith, but we can't fight the Burning Legion with the numbers we have, even if the Iron Horde managed to entirely destroy one of their camps thanks to your ruse."

Faith pursed her lips, "Someone please make a portal to Bladespire Citadel and warn Durotan. We'll see what he says. I'll go to Lunarfall and talk to Khadgar."

"You really think that the Alliance will help us against the Burning Legion?"

"I do," said Faith. "It's better for them to have us around than not, trust me."


	25. Chapter 25

The hour was growing late. Sylvanas paced the chamber in the Cleft of Shadow, where they had agreed to reconvene before going to Shattrath City. She was nervous.

It made no sense. She and Faith hadn't even been separated for ten days, and yet she was acting as though she hadn't seen her for a year.

_And you may not see her for a very long time if this portal doesn't work_.

She bit her lip as she stopped pacing. She hated to think about it, but what if? What if the same thing happened to Faith that had happened to Alleria and Turalyon? What if she remained lost, somewhere in another world where she couldn't reach her?

"Sylvanas, honestly, you've got to calm down. You're making  _me_  nervous with all your pacing."

"I'm perfectly calm," she snapped, glaring at Halduron, who had been sitting close by, watching her.

"I get that you're worried about Faith, but I'm sure she's just fine."

Not answering, Sylvanas merely looked towards one of the entrances to the Cleft, her stomach contracting when she saw Chromie padding over, looking enthusiastic.

"All right!" she said, her gnomish voice echoing. "Our envoys have just gotten back from Shattrath City, and said that their people would be more than happy to help us out. The Aldor and the Scryers are particularly up for it. Do you have your people ready?"

Sylvanas inclined her head, "Yes. They're waiting for our signal."

"We have forces as well," said Halduron. "Five hundred at least who have agreed to go right away. Baine and his people should be around any moment too."

Just as he said those words, the tauren chieftain arrived, followed by none other than Atalo, who was dressed in combat furs, something Sylvanas had never seen him wear before. On his back, he carried a hide pack on which was strapped a runespear and an exquisitely crafted bow.

"Sylvanas," he said, shaking her hand. "I figured you would be here."

"You know me, Atalo."

"I do. I read the worry in your face."

"I'm not worried."

"Of course not. Ishaka and Taisha had to fight to keep Hamu in Thunder Bluff. He's been worried sick over his sister."

Sylvanas smiled, "He hasn't changed. He still loves Faith more than ever."

"He does. But we reminded him that Faith would never forgive him if he left his infant daughter and went gallivanting on another planet."

"Oh, she'd kill him for it, I'm sure."

The two of them quieted down as Chromie mentioned that it was time. Three Silvermoon mages stepped forward, beginning to chant, tracing glowing runes on the floor. A portal started to coalesce in their midst, and Sylvanas barely made out the outline of Shattrath City within the gently swirling vortex.

"All right, some of us will go first, then we'll figure out the logistics for the other forces. Lady Sylvanas, would you care to do the honors?"

"I would be delighted," she said.

She stepped through the portal, followed by three dozen others, landing in Shattrath City, a place she had actually never been to before.

"This is my first time away from Azeroth…" she mused, looking around with interest.

"Me too," Atalo told her. "It's a strange feeling, I think."

"Indeed." Conflicting emotions swirled inside her. In her mind, she saw Alleria, who had been nearly shattered when Lirath had been killed, and so determined to see every orc in the universe exterminated. She saw her brother's funeral, remembering the way Faith had looked at her, trying to convey comfort in her time of grief, without being able to actually reach her. She cleared her throat.

"Are you all right?"

A nod, "Yes."

Chromie joined them, "All right. I see that the Alliance is already here!"

She was right. Sylvanas saw Vereesa standing in one of the corners of the room with several other high-ranking members of Stormwind City and Dalaran. She was surprised to see Jaina there, talking quietly to a draenei. Both of them glared at her when they saw her looking.

A few minutes later, more people began to come through the portal from Orgrimmar. On the opposite side of the room, more troops were coming from Stormwind.

"It's amazing that so many people answered the call to bring our people home," said Halduron. "You can't doubt anybody's bravery, even the Alliance's."

"I have never doubted the fact that the people of the Alliance are brave," Sylvanas told him. "We should review the troops, come on."

She walked away from the big gathering, looking over the amount of people who had gathered from the Horde. It was an impressive group comprised of all races, a lot of whom she had seen in battle before. Some of them tried to hide from her eyes, fully knowing that they should have remained on Azeroth. She said nothing about it, however, as she checked weapons, armor and supplies.

"We are going to a harsh environment," she stated. "Make no mistake about that. Some of you might have fought here in Outland before, but the place we're going to is completely different than what you know. It's likely that the Burning Legion is attacking the planet as we speak, and you need to take into consideration the fact that the Iron Horde is also there, waiting to invade us again."

Several orcs stomped their feet, not likely to forget what Garrosh had done to them.

"You have one goal while on Draenor. Find our people. If you have the opportunity to kill members of the Iron Horde and the Burning Legion, by all means, take it, but don't forget the main reason we're going there." She looked at them all, "You do not all have to come. But if you want to take your revenge upon Garrosh Hellscream, you will be able to do that once we've secured our forces."

"What about the Alliance?" asked a goblin. "What do we do about them?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "Worry about them when we get back here, not before. We are not going to Draenor to continue our fight against them, not this time."

"Even the worgen?" wondered Halduron innocently.

Gritting her teeth, she shook her head again, not answering.

Halduron smirked as several members of the Bronze Dragonflight came over, stating that they were ready to start the portal ceremony, as they called it.

"We'll have draenei go through first and explain to the forces there what's going on, assuming we're able to open the portal without mishap. Sylvanas, you and your team will go next?"

"I will," she replied.

They got started.

* * *

The people of Shattrath City had been fighting sporadic attacks by the Burning Legion for weeks. They had heard that people from another dimension had come through the giant portal in the Tanaan Jungle and had begun to fight the Iron Horde, but they had been far too busy to worry about it.

Besides, it was far away from them.

They had their own mages, and were used to portals coalescing in and out of the city as people were evacuated from the Burning Legion siege, so at first, they thought nothing of the vortex of energy that materialized in the gardens at the back of the city. It was there that a lot of the wounded were being taken care of, ready to be evacuated if the battle grew dire.

One of the people there was a field medic by the name of Mahoaan, who was busy bandaging a soldier's leg. He glanced up as he saw several draenei coming through the portal, but said nothing to them, focusing instead on what he was doing.

But after a while, he noticed that the new arrivals weren't really moving, simply looking around with stunned expressions on their faces.

Their armor looked like nothing he'd ever seen before.

He got to his feet, "How may I help you?" he asked them.

A female answered, "Hello," she began, sounding unsure of herself. "I don't really know how to tell you this, but…"

Mahoaan stared at her, "You are from that other world, aren't you? That other dimension."

A look of relief spread over the female's features, "You know about that?"

He nodded, "We heard rumors, but we did not think that we would find you here. We heard that your people were in the Tanaan Jungle and in other parts of the planet. We certainly did not hear of any of you in Talador."

"I don't think that we had planned on ever really coming here, but our people are stuck on the planet without any means to get home, so our leaders thought it best to come get them."

"I understand. You will want to speak to our leader, High Councilor Elemis."

"We would. Let me send word back to my people, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," he said, curious about what he was going to see. The only people he had seen outside of this planet had been demons from the Burning Legion. He hoped that these others were a little more… civilized.

He didn't think to ask how draenei had made it to this other dimension.

* * *

Night had fallen. Faith, busy picking herbs, didn't really notice, as the cave she was in was lit by her green flames, which hovered five feet above her head.

Someone came in suddenly, hurrying towards her. "Faith."

"Carrick! What are you doing back here? I didn't expect you for a while. Did you already get everything settled in Gorgrond, or did something happen?"

"Oh, we got to Gorgrond all right, and we found a nice little area that could serve us well as a base, but there are some problems."

"But how did you get there so fast?"

"Oh, that was easy. You know the rylaks that are around here?"

Faith nodded. Rylaks had been among some of the many creatures they had encountered in Frostfire Ridge. They looked a bit like chimaeras, but with more wolfish features, and were just as vicious.

"Well, some of the Frostwolves were able to befriend and breed a few smaller ones that actually fly quite fast. I wasn't able to ride them, of course, because they wouldn't touch me, but one of them took Thrall and a couple of other mages went there as well. As soon as they were in Gorgrond, they created a portal to me, and I was able to join them. It cut our travel time by half."

"Excellent thinking," she told him. "What did you find there? Any Laughing Skull orcs?"

"Yes, a few of them, actually. They were having a few issues with the creatures they call goren – I'm telling you, they're almost worse than murlocs – and in exchange, they agreed to help us find our way through the area."

Raising her eyebrows, Faith placed her herbs inside her bag, "They agreed to help you in exchange for helping them against a few pests?"

"I should mention that there were a few giant ones around. Some of the wildlife on Gorgrond seems to be altered."

"How?" she asked him.

"They're much larger than they should be, for one thing. I saw a snake that looked more like a naga than anything else, and a few spiders that looked bigger than the ones I saw at home."

A shudder ran through Faith, "What do you mean,  _bigger_?" her voice wasn't quite steady.

"You remember Naxxramas?"

"I try not to."

He chuckled, "Well, bigger than that."

"Sounds delightful. So you're basically telling me to never set foot in Gorgrond?"

"No, actually, I came here to ask you for help. The way these things have grown… it isn't natural. Thrall could feel some kind of corruption in the land, not unlike in –."

"Felwood," finished Faith.

Rotvine nodded, "We didn't see any signs of the Burning Legion there, but that doesn't mean they didn't manage to corrupt the wildlife in some way or another."

"Mm, and it wouldn't take a lot. We know how easy it is to do such a thing. Taint just one source of water, and hundreds of creatures can be infected. You haven't found the source yet, I presume, you haven't been there long enough."

"Not yet, but the Laughing Skull orcs have been looking for some time." He laughed at the expression on Faith's face, "I was surprised too, but I guess that the animals they hunt for food have been affected, which means that they can't eat them, so I suppose that they want to resolve this quickly, for their own livelihood."

"And I suppose all of this explains the giant goren you guys had to face."

"It does. So, will you come?"

"I want to, but we've had some problems of our own here." She told him about Lady Kythira and the menace she represented. "If she attacks us before everyone returns, we're going to be in big trouble."

"You're actually worried about her?"

"She beat me," admitted Faith. "I hate to say it, but she's strong. If I can't beat her…"

"Come on. We beat  _Arthas_!"

"That's exactly right.  _We_  beat Arthas. A team of us, working together. I don't think any single person would have been able to beat him, and I think that the same holds true for her. More so if she's got the rest of the Burning Legion at her side."

"Okay, so we'll defeat her. We'll reinforce the base here, you'll come help us in Gorgrond, then we'll return and figure things out. We can keep a permanent portal open between here and Beastwatch, so that people can come get us immediately if there's something wrong."

Faith considered it. "All right. Let me tell Liadrin."

She went to look for her, finding her at the armory with a couple of others.

"You're  _leaving_?" she asked. "Now?"

"I'll be back soon, don't worry. And you'll be able to reach me via portal."

"Assuming we don't get attacked in the meantime."

"If we want help from the Laughing Skull clan, we're going to have to help them in return."

"I get it, Faith. The timing's just wrong, that's all."

"I'm counting on you to defend Frostwall until I return. Come get me if there's anything."

"Thrall will be standing by in Beastwatch," said Rotvine.

Liadrin nodded, "Be careful."

* * *

Sylvanas had been on Draenor for twenty minutes, and her body felt like a live wire. She hardly took in what she was seeing around her, so eager was she to get moving to find Faith.

She had called for skeletal horses and bats to be brought to her, and was waiting for them, semi-patiently. She knew Ivory would hate having to go through two portals, but she was her best mean of getting around.

Halduron stood with her, examining a map of Draenor. Some of the draenei had mentioned hearing – somehow – that the Horde had gone to a place called Frostfire Ridge.

"Why would they go so far away?" he mused. "They could have stayed closer to the Dark Portal."

"Not if they needed to put a lot of distance between themselves and their enemies," Sylvanas told him. "We don't know what they were facing." She looked back towards the portal in time to see someone returning with Venom, Winter, and Ivory. The bat, as she had suspected, hadn't taken kindly to the travel, and was fighting her handler tooth and nail.

"Are you sure that bat should be here?" asked Halduron, his eyebrow raised.

Not answering, Sylvanas went to the creature, speaking to it in gentle Thalassian. Ivory almost immediately calmed down when she saw her, allowing her to rub her head gently. "Good girl. We'll find your mistress soon."

"You still have a way with creatures, I see."

A shrug, "Only with Undercity ones. If you were to try to get me onto a real horse, I guarantee you that it would be a very different story. Prince wouldn't come near me after I was raised, and I'd gotten him as a foal." She dropped her hand, but Ivory nudged it again, clearly wanting more cuddles.

"Stop it."

But Ivory wouldn't, finally causing Sylvanas to smile.

"You're as bad as Faith is. She'd spend hours with me stroking her if I'd let her."

"Faith would spend hours just staring at you without doing anything," said Halduron. "And don't you try to deny it."

Sylvanas chuckled. The two of them had spent countless hours staring at each other. An unbidden memory came to her, one of when they'd been alive and sharing a bed during an occasion she couldn't recall. What she did remember was watching Faith as she'd slept, trying desperately not to touch her and longing for her so much she had practically been unable to breathe.

"D'you know how long Chromie's going to be with the leader of Shattrath City?"

"No. But it shouldn't be much longer now."

While they waited, they went over the troops that had already come through the portal. It was quite an impressive gathering of forces of every race from the Horde and the Alliance, all of them ready to fight.

Chromie returned an hour later, followed by the high councilor, a male draenei wearing ornate plate armor and a magnificent white cloak. A sense of power emanated from him, and as soon as he arrived, the injured soldiers on the floor saluted him. It was clear that they greatly respected him.

"I would like to welcome all of you to Shattrath City. I wish that you had come during better times, as we are facing attacks almost every day from the Burning Legion. We have also recently found out that the Iron Horde has arrived on our shores, which makes things much less peaceful than we would like."

"I have assured High Councilor Elemis that we will do everything we can to help him and his people out. He has therefore granted all of us safe passage through Shattrath City."

Sylvanas bowed to him, "Thank you," she told him. "I will take a group of riders through the skies and go directly to Frostfire Ridge while others follow on the ground."

The high councilor nodded, "You will find the road by land to be perilous. But what we can do is lend you a ship to get you to the ridge safely. We are lucky that the Legion hasn't yet attacked our harbor."

"We would be grateful for any passage," said Chromie, inclining her head. "The members of the Alliance I believe will be going to Shadowmoon Valley."

"That will be easier for you." He took something from his pocket, a scroll sealed with gold and violet wax, "Nobody will question your passage as long as you have this with you."

"Thank you for your time. We will reconvene with you as soon as we have connected with those of us who are stranded here."

Jaina stepped forward, "Our mages have the coordinates here, so we should be able to make portals to return to Shattrath City without too much inconvenience."

They left a short while later, the Horde and Alliance separating without a word to each other. Chromie elected to remain in Shattrath City with several others, to boost the city's defenses against further attacks.

To Sylvanas, it felt that the true invasion of Draenor had begun.


	26. Chapter 26

When they had sailed close to Gorgrond's shore, they had noticed what appeared to be a dry and arid place.

But when Faith arrived at Beastwatch, she was surprised to see lush greenery surrounding her. Fragrant tropical plants and flowers perfumed the air with a heavenly scent, although it didn't quite mask the undercurrent of corruption. The smell was familiar, bringing to mind memories Faith would have rather kept buried.

"You have got to be kidding me," she aids. "It smells like –."

"The Plague, we know," said Thrall. "But it's not the same thing. It's close, but this plague, if that's what it is, doesn't kill its hosts. Instead it infects them, kind of like a parasite, turning its victims into creatures that are still very much alive, but act according to what the plague wants. They no longer have any will of their own and exist only in some kind of fevered fugue state."

Faith made a face, "Sounds delightful. I'm guessing it's from the Burning Legion?"

"It appears to be, yes. And it's affected many an organism. Plants, animals, and orcs alike. It was probably brought from one of the thousands of worlds they conquered."

"Any idea how to fix it?"

"None. I mean, we still don't have a cure for the Plague of Undeath, so…"

"Let's hope the same doesn't hold true for this one, or we'll find ourselves in a world of trouble." She paused suddenly, looking up. "Sylvanas?" she asked.

Rotvine started, "What?"

Faith shook her head briefly, "Sorry, I thought I felt her presence, that's all."

"How would you have felt her presence?"

"I don't know. I just felt suddenly that she was here."

"Here on Draenor?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. I thought I heard her voice in my mind. Wishful thinking, I guess."

"You've missed her," said Thrall quietly.

She had. More than she cared to admit. "I'll see her again soon." She cleared her throat, "All right, where do you want to start with this corruption?"

"Well, we've gotten a sample of it from the Laughing Skull, but we don't know what to do with it. Do you think magic would be able to do anything?"

"If it could, Carrick, you would have been able to take care of it on your own."

"Maybe the Light?"

Faith nodded, "Yeah, maybe. It depends on how intense it is. What kind of sample have you got?"

"It's a vine that's been overgrown with these… things. They're like pustules. Over here."

Thrall led her through Beastwatch, which was nothing more than a primitive camp surrounded by wooden spikes, in which tents had been erected using branches and leaves. It wasn't much, but served its purpose. The lumber itself was of good quality, and would probably help them reinforce Frostwall.

In one of the tents, contained in a glass jar, was a section of green vine that looked like nothing Faith had ever seen. All over it, small reddish-yellow boils seemed to be breathing on their own, appearing to be sucking the life out of the vine. As she watched, its green color dulled.

"This reminds me of the way the growths on the trees in the Plaguelands breathe on their own," she said.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking of as well."

"If that's what it is, we're going to need druids. They've been cleansing the Plaguelands since the fall of the Lich King. They also helped to cleanse the corruption in Felwood."

"What about what you guys all did in Quel'Thalas?"

"That was us killing the Scourge. We weren't cleansing the land of the Plague. We tried something to cleanse Gilneas after what Sylvanas did to it, but it didn't really go anywhere. If we can't get rid of this, fire may be the only way to remove it."

* * *

The white bat glided over the water, followed by two dozen bats, dragonhawks, and wyvern. The Zangar Sea wasn't very wide, but they had already been flying for an hour. One of the dragonhawks had already begun showing signs of weariness, causing the one druid who was with them to perform a spell on it, invigorating it for the rest of the flight. Ivory, for her part, was showing no signs at all of being tired, and seemed to be enjoying herself.

"What do you think of this place?" Halduron asked Sylvanas, needing to shout in order to be heard over the sound of the wind rushing in their ears.

"It definitely looks different," she replied. She'd been intrigued by the giant mushrooms growing at the edge of the sea. Faith had mentioned something about them when she'd spoken about her time in the Zangarmarsh of Outland, but her descriptions hadn't done them justice. "I'm beginning to understand why Faith always wants to visit new places with me."

Garia, who was riding just behind her on a dark brown bat, chuckled. "Do I even want to know what the two of you are going to do when you see Faith again?"

Sylvanas glanced back at the orc, "Whatever are you insinuating? Faith and I haven't been apart that long."

"And yet, the way you've come running here will make people think that the two of you have been apart for months."

It was true, and not without reason. Sylvanas had felt, these days without her lover, that they hadn't seen each other for a much longer period of time. "Do you honestly believe that Faith and I are incapable of keeping our hands off each other when we're not alone?"

A snort came from Halduron, but he said nothing as they kept flying towards Frostfire Ridge. They would be arriving soon; already, they could see the frozen shoreline on the horizon.

They landed just as the sky began to darken and a light snow fell from the clouds above.

"Do you have any idea where to look for them?" asked Garia.

"Somewhere along the coast, I presume, it's the safest place to be when you don't know an area. We'll stop here for the night, and go on once the mounts have gotten some rest. I suggest you all do the same."

* * *

The corruption had spread to the entirety of the vine while Faith and the others tried to remove it.

"It's a fast killer," said Rotvine.

Faith shook her head, "I don't know about that. If it killed that fast, I think this part of Draenor would be more like the Plaguewood south of Stratholme. I'm pretty sure the corruption spread that way because the vine was cut from its tree."

"So, what do you want to do?"

"We can't very well burn this entire area, can we?"

"No, I don't suppose we can. I wish we had more of our people here, they'd know what to do."

"Without a doubt. Honestly, I think that the druids would be our best chance here. They were the ones to counteract whatever malignant effects the Plague of Undeath had in Lordaeron, and they did a lot in Felwood as well."

"But we don't have many druids here…"

"We don't," said Faith. "And most of the druids we have are in Lunarfall, so we'll have to go talk to the Alliance about it."

"You really think they'll help us?"

"I think that we won't know until we try." She got up from where she'd been kneeling, studying the corrupted vine. "I'll make a portal now, but I'm not sure how effective I'll be. After all, they have their own problems as well."

She left right away, creating a portal to Lunarfall and going through it, Rotvine following her. They landed just outside Lunarfall, which was perhaps lucky, considering the fact that something nefarious appeared to be going on.

It was an attack, and judging from the fel fire that was falling from the sky, the Burning Legion was behind it…

* * *

Sylvanas had never seen landscape like the one before her, with ice and fire clashing seamlessly. There was a certain beauty to it, she supposed, but she could tell that her living companions weren't enjoying this portion of the trip.

She perceived that the air was cold – too cold for the clothes they wore. Halduron was shivering badly enough for her to see, and his dragonhawk wasn't doing much better.

"Do you guys need a break to warm up?" she called out.

"If we can survive Icecrown, we can survive this," he told her. "Besides, unless I'm very much mistaken, that's what we're looking for in the distance."

He was right. On the horizon, they saw the outline of what looked like a large fortified camp.

Sylvanas started to laugh as they got closer to it, "Am I dreaming, or does that look like Venomspite?"

"That's Faith all tight, thinking of you even when she's on another planet."

"Time must move differently here like we thought," said Garia. "Even with magic, there's no way they would have been able to build something that big in just two weeks."

Sylvanas kept her eyes on the camp, which was more like a small town than anything. She saw several structures, including a tower on which people were patrolling.

Whoever was on the ground saw them coming, and recognized them, because when they arrived, they all felt the lowering of a magical shield, which allowed them to land.

"By the Light!" cried a voice. "You're a sight for sore eyes!"

Sylvanas dismounted in time to see Lady Liadrin running out of a building and launch herself at Halduron, hugging him. Surprised, Halduron hugged her back, glancing at Sylvanas with wide eyes.

"What in the world are you… how did you get here?" asked Liadrin, stepping back just enough to incline her head to Sylvanas.

"Portals," said Sylvanas, amusement coloring her voice.

"But how? Faith and Khadgar have been trying for months to make a portal back to Azeroth, but they haven't managed it so far."

"I'm not really sure what the process was, to be honest. Suffice it to say that the Bronze Dragonflight was pivotal in our efforts." Sylvanas shifted, her eyes scanning the area, "Is Faith around?"

Liadrin shook her head, "I'm afraid not. She went to Gorgrond in order to find people to help us with a bit of a problem we're having here. Although now that you've arrived… wait, how many of you are there?"

"Oh, we've got a permanent portal open in Shattrath City," Sylvanas told her. "We can have reinforcements here in a couple of days. Less, really. There are a couple of ships on their way here with about five hundred people, give or take."

"Five hundred? That could make all the difference in the world. Thank you, Sylvanas. I… I'm sure Faith will thank you in her own way when she sees you."

Sylvanas was about to smile when cold laughter rang around them. The laughter was long, and evil coming from above them, from below them, from the clouds and from the very earth.

"If you ever want to see your precious  _commander_  again, you will come to our camp and surrender to the Burning Legion! Do this, and we will spare her life. Don't, and…" the laughter rang out again.

"What the…" Liadrin pulled out her sword, her eyes darting to and fro, looking for the source of the laughter. "Show yourself, fiend!" she cried.

A creature materialized in front of them. A red-skinned eredar with glowing fel green tattoos. "I gave her the choice to join us, and she wouldn't. Perhaps  _you_  will be persuaded." She held out a hand, immobilizing Sylvanas' arm to prevent her from shooting her arrow, "Now, now, none of that. I am simply trying to bargain with you."

"The Burning Legion doesn't bargain," snarled Halduron, having noticed the way Sylvanas' skin had turned a more sickly shade of grey.

"Your loyalty for your commander. I think it is fair enough, since you came all the way here for her."

"You can't have Faith," said Liadrin. "That's impossible."

"Is it? We… intercepted her during her travels."

"Intercepted," repeated Sylvanas.

"You're Kythira," said Liadrin. "The one who fought Faith just the other day."

"She fought Faith and lives?" asked Garia. "That's impressive."

Lady Kythira laughed, "Should I have been afraid of that child? She put up a fight when we caught her, let me tell you. And now…" she laughed again. "Now she wishes she'd never been born."

"Oh, I will  _kill_  you!" snarled Sylvanas, attempting to launch herself at the eredar. But the spell that had frozen her arm now encompassed her entire body. She fought as hard as she could, used all of her strength, but the spell didn't budge.

"It is more likely that I will be the one to kill you. You have until the sun goes down to turn yourselves in. Do this, and your commander lives."

She disappeared from their midst so fast that a loud  _pop_  sounded when the air rushed to fill the empty space she'd been in. Sylvanas suddenly fell to the ground as the spell on her was lifted.

"Where's their camp?" she asked Liadrin.

"They have two. Or, they did. The first one was destroyed, but the second one… I'm not sure we'll get there before nightfall."

"We'll fly. The bats can carry more than one person at once. Tell me where they are."

Liadrin led Sylvanas to the Frostwall Inn, where a map of Draenor was pinned to the wall. Next to it were more detailed maps of the various regions, where symbols for the Burning Legion and the Iron Horde glowed softly.

"Right here," she said, pointing to an area in Frostfire Ridge. "We'll get there faster if we fly, but Sylvanas, even with the bats, there will only be around forty of us going there. There's no way we'll be able to mount a rescue mission when there are almost five hundred demons waiting for us. That camp is huge – we checked."

Sylvanas bit her lip, "There were only twenty of us when we went to rescue Faith from Naxxramas, and we made it through. You remember how many members of the Scourge were there, I presume?"

"Of course I remember, but this isn't the Scourge."

"No, it's the people who created the Scourge. I'll go by myself if I have to."

"You can't!"

"I did not come all the way here just watch Faith be killed by the Burning Legion, Liadrin."

"I know you didn't, but this doesn't mean you have to go alone. Your mounts need rest."

"They rested last night. They can go for a while longer."

"Sylvanas, slow down."

"No!" She walked out of the inn, ordering everyone who was around to get ready.

"You can't really be thinking about going there to find her?" Liadrin asked her, running after her.

"Do you honestly think that I would have personally come here if it weren't for Faith? No, I wouldn't have. But it's Faith, and I will give my own life to keep her safe. I don't care what the cost is."

It wasn't up for discussion, and Liadrin knew it. "Look, I'm not saying we're going to leave Faith there. But you need to think for a second. We'll go talk to Durotan and get some of the Frostwolf orcs to help out. I'm sure they will."

"Durotan?  _Durotan_?"

"Yes, he's here. We have a permanent portal to Bladespire Citadel that we can use to get to him. I'll explain while the others go get him."

* * *

It took less than an hour for Durotan to come to Frostwall with one hundred of his most elite fighters. Sylvanas was speechless for a minute as he told her what Faith had done during her time on Draenor.

"She told me about you," he said. "How the two of you are life mates."

"We're not married," said Sylvanas quickly.

"No, but the principle remains the same, I think." He nodded, "We will not leave our sister to perish at the hands of the demons."

Touched, she smiled a little, "It would be an honor to fight beside you, Durotan. Now, how are we going to get all of us there?"

"What about a portal?" asked Liadrin, her face lighting up with an idea. "You can take a couple of members of the First Magi Corps with you, and create a portal to get back here once you get close to the Legion's camp. That way, it'll be much faster for everyone."

"That's genius," said Sylvanas.

"We did this a few times when we were spread thin along the lines. It works really well, but you obviously need mages with you."

"Obviously. How many do you have to spare here?"

"Half the First Magi Corps is here. The rest is spread out on Frostfire Ridge, while others still went with Faith and Carrick to Gorgrond. We have enough of them for this, don't worry." She called them, and they all arrived, taking a knee in front of Sylvanas.

"We live to serve you, my Lady," said one of them.

"I hope you keep living for a very long time," she replied before explaining what she needed from them. Five of them agreed to go with her immediately while the others began to conjure various items that they would be needing for the mission.

They were ready to go an hour later, having given potions to the mounts they would be using so that they would feel no ill effects from the extended travel.

They took a portal back to Bladespire Citadel, as it was closer to the Legion's camp than Frostwall. Ivory was too bewildered by what was going on to make a fuss as she was pushed through the swirling vortex, although she protested by nearly biting Sylvanas' hand off when she reached her. Sylvanas smacked her on the nose.

They took off while the others gathered to wait for a portal. Durotan traveled with Sylvanas on Ivory, keeping an eye out for an ambush.

"I just wondered how the Burning Legion got her. How did they know she was traveling?"

Sylvanas grit her teeth, "They must have followed her and grabbed her when she was at her most vulnerable." It didn't make any sense to her. Faith was more careful than that. "I just want to make sure they really have her before we venture in there."

"How will you do that?"

"I'm not sure yet," she said. "But I'll think of something."

* * *

The camp they found was huge, all glowing an evil fel green. Sylvanas wanted to circle around it, but there was no way to do that with the Legion's fel bats patrolling the skies.

Sylvanas and the others had settled themselves a hundred yards away from the camp, at the bottom of a hill. It wasn't the safest place by any means, but any further would make it difficult for them to keep the element of surprise, even if Lady Kythira  _was_  waiting for them.

The mages quickly made a portal to get the rest of their troops from Frostwall, leaving Liadrin there with a few others, just in case.

"Can't you feel her, Sylvanas?" asked Halduron.

"Feel her?"

"Yeah, I thought the two of you had a connection?"

"We do… but that was severed when she came here." But the connection should have reestablished itself when she had come to Draenor as well. She hadn't even thought about activating it, assuming it would return when she and Faith saw each other again.

Fear laced her. Was she dead? Was that why she couldn't hear her?

 _Faith_?

No answer. She tried again, her call louder this time.

_Faith!_

_Sylvanas?!_

The relief of hearing Faith's voice in her head was so intense that she didn't notice the poisoned arrow until it had pierced her side.


	27. Chapter 27

_Sylvanas! Sylvanas, answer me! Where are you?_

Faith was standing in the smoking ruins of Lunarfall, bits of demons and infernals strewn about her. The Burning Legion's attack on the Alliance camp had been swift and had destroyed everything, but somehow, they had limited casualties to a bare minimum. Only four people had died.

"Faith! You heard her? You heard Sylvanas?" Rotvine was at her side, gripping her arm so tightly that her flesh would have bruised had she still been breathing.

"I did. Be quiet, I need to focus." She closed her eyes, projecting her consciousness to her lover.

_Faith!_

Her mind suddenly filled with an image. She saw snowdrifts and cliffs covered in blue ice. Members of the Horde and Frostwolf orcs fighting a couple of eredar. Lady Kythira.  Sylvanas pulling an arrow from her side, where it had just hit her armor and not her skin.

"By the Light, she's  _here_! Sylvanas is in Frostfire Ridge!"

"She… she is? How's that possible?"

Not answering, Faith immediately made a portal to Frostwall, unaware that Khadgar and Arator were behind her. They followed her through the portal, and they all landed on a heap in the snow. Faith cursed, staggering to her feet after pushing Arator off her legs.

"Faith!" Liadrin came running over to them, relief visible on her face. "By the Light, Sylvanas is here! Apparently they managed to create a portal here, and they've brought reinforcements."

"Where are they?"

"Kythira was here, Faith, she arrived a few minutes after Sylvanas did… She told us that she'd caught you when you were on your way to Gorgrond."

"And Sylvanas went to rescue me, no doubt. Is there a portal open to where they went?"

Liadrin nodded, "Yes. In the tower."

Faith didn't hesitate, running towards the tower, Rotvine following closely. "If the reinforcements arrive, send them our way!" she called back to Liadrin.

The portal was just before her, and without even slowing her stride, Faith leapt through it.

* * *

It was like a scene from a nightmare. Faith had never expected to see Sylvanas surrounded by so many demons, and facing an eredar that seemed intent on killing her.

Sylvanas was fighting hard by the time Faith arrived. Her armor was dented in two places, and she had a long bleeding scratch down her arm, but she was fighting, and judging by the way Kythira looked, she'd managed to get some blows in too.

Faith began to cast immediately, her black fire incinerating the first few imps in front of her. She moved on to the next demon, a huge wrathguard wielding swords as long as Faith's legs.

Using something Sylvanas had taught her long ago, Faith attacked the demon's calves, her spellblade cutting muscles so efficiently that the creature stumbled. Arator leapt on top of it, slicing its head clean off its shoulders with a cry.

"Arator – what are you doing here?"

"You came to help us, now we're helping you!" he cried, sending a column of Light towards a voidwalker, which was almost instantly killed.

Faith merely nodded, continuing to fight. More demons were coming towards them, trying to impede their progress, but little by little, Faith fought her way to Sylvanas until the two of them finally stood side by side.

They didn't touch. Didn't even look at each other. They didn't need to. The mere fact that they were standing there next to each other tripled their energy. Faith's magic swirled around them, protecting them from any sneak attack, strong enough to make Kythira take a step back.

"I would run now if I were you," Khadgar said to Kythira, stepping close to them. A shimmering barrier surrounded him, pulsating forward every minute and killing whatever enemy was foolhardy enough to come near him. "I've never seen the two of them fighting together, but can you not sense their combined power?"

The eredar looked at them, her fel eyes flashing. "You could not beat me on your own!" she spat at Faith.

"Perhaps not on my own," said Faith calmly. "But the fact that you just tried to kill my lover has awoken something in me. I'd love nothing more than to give you a taste of it." She focused her energy, and her skin began to glow as the magic around her intensified.

Suddenly, she released a crackling wave of fire and arcane magic, which would have hit Kythira right in the chest had she not moved at the last second. As it was, the spell hit the eredar's shoulder hard enough for everyone to hear the sickening crunch of bones.

Kythira screamed and was flung through the air, landing on a boulder, her clothes aflame. She struggled to get to her feet, but before she could do anything, several other eredar ran to her, tearing the flaming robes off her body.

"This isn't over!" one of them cried. "You are going to wish you had joined us soon enough." He raised his arm, and the demons began to retreat, leaving behind all who had died in the battle.

Faith didn't relax until she was sure all of them were gone. She only moved when Sylvanas ordered everyone to get back to Frostwall through the portal, and even then, it was only because she put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, love," she said quietly, guiding her away from the battlefield.

They were the last two to get back to the garrison, Faith closing the portal behind her.

The second she did, Sylvanas wrapped her arms around her in a crushing hug, lifting her off her feet. Faith burst into tears, hugging her lover back, her lips seeking, finding, kissing.

Kissing.

They lost themselves in that kiss, mouths fitting together perfectly, bodies automatically adjusting to each other. Sylvanas' tongue stroked Faith's gently, and they both groaned, gripping each other tighter still. There was fire. There was passion. Their hands found each other, their fingers intertwining, as though each needed to anchor herself to keep from combusting.

Sylvanas pulled away, her skin simmering. She released Faith's hands, bringing them up to her face and wiping the dusty tears there. "I love you," she said privately, so quietly that the people who were watching them felt embarrassed to have witnessed the moment.

"I love you," said Faith in the same tone. She leaned forward until her forehead was pressed against Sylvanas'. Her eyes closed again, fingers skimming against Sylvanas' cheeks, her neck, her ears.

"That was the most amazing kiss I've ever seen…" whispered Arator from somewhere inside the tower.

"Shh! They'll hear you!" hissed Rotvine.

Sylvanas began to laugh. "Yes, we'll hear you," she said. "And we'll ask why you're watching us."

"My apologies, your Majesty," said Rotvine. "We were just leaving."

Faith kissed Sylvanas' lips softly before turning her head to look at Rotvine, who was trying to pull Arator out of the doorway. "How many people did we lose?"

"A few," he said. "It was lucky your magic flared when it did, or the battle would have gone badly."

"Lucky. Right." She disengaged herself from Sylvanas, who immediately took her hand, following her outside. Snow was starting to fall over the garrison.

There was a high-pitched cry, and suddenly, Faith found herself barreled over by a furry white creature who was squeaking in delight, wings flapping excitedly and sending snow all over the place.

"Ivory!" she exclaimed, bursting into laughter. "Hello, my darling!"

"You silly bat," said Sylvanas, sounding highly amused. "You were only away from her for two weeks."

Faith got to her feet, "Two weeks?" she asked. "Is that all it's been for you?"

"Yes. Evidently it's been longer for you all."

A nod, "Three months."

"You've been busy." Sylvanas nodded at the garrison around them, "That's quite an impressive setup you've got here."

"Thanks, love. You should've seen what the Alliance had going on before the Burning Legion attacked their garrison. Speaking of which," she turned to Khadgar. "Do you guys need help rebuilding it?"

He shook his head, "No. If reinforcements are coming, then I suspect we'll have more than enough manpower to rebuild everything on our own. But thank you."

"Help yourselves to whatever you need here," she told him. "At least until they arrive. Carrick, show him to where we've stored leathers, furs, and lumber. They can bring that back to Lunarfall for now."

"Still helping the Alliance," said a voice to Faith's left. "I see you'll never learn."

It was Garia, and she was standing next to Vilak, grinning.

Faith grinned back and went to her, hugging her, "What are you doing here?"

"We weren't about to let Sylvanas come to Draenor on her own, you know. It's good to see you, Commander."

"It's great to see all of you," she replied. She walked back to Sylvanas, tucking herself into her arms. "How  _did_  you all come to be here?"

"We made a portal to Shattrath City with the help of the Bronze Dragonflight," said Sylvanas. She went on to explain what they had done in as much detail as she could. "I didn't think it was going to work, to be honest."

The look Faith gave her was one of love. "But it did. And you're here. You came for me."

"I would follow you to the ends of the universe, my heart." She kissed her again, softly, just a press of lips, but enough to make their blood boil in their veins. "Once the reinforcements arrive, I'm taking you home."

"Are you?" asked Faith, sounding just a trifle colder.

"I am. You were never meant to stay on Draenor. Hell, you were never meant to go through the Dark Portal in the first place."

"Maybe not, but we have to stay here. The Burning Legion is invading the planet, and the Iron Horde is getting ready for another attack on Azeroth. If we leave them unchecked, both of them will invade us."

"There are plenty of people who can take over for you." Sylvanas put a finger to Faith's lips, "I won't discuss this further."

Faith frowned, shaking her head. It was inevitable that Sylvanas would want to bring her home and keep her safe, but that didn't mean part of her didn't resent it. "I love that you came here. I actually wanted to find a way to come home and surprise you, but I love this more. But, Sylvanas, I'm Commander of the Horde forces on Draenor."

"So we'll appoint someone new. I just told you I'm not discussing this further."

"Fine. I'll see how well I can coordinate the efforts from Undercity." She released Sylvanas and walked to where her tent was located, just behind the barracks. It was a simple tent, not unlike the ones she and Sylvanas had shared while camping outside of Orgrimmar. Inside it was a desk, a chair, a rustic wooden box in which she kept leather leggings and tunics, and a low bed.

Sylvanas joined her seconds later, "Are you  _sulking_?" she asked, incredulous.

"No. But I think you're being unreasonable."

"How is it unreasonable for me to want you home?"

"Like I said, I love that you're here, and I won't deny the fact that we really need some help, but that doesn't mean that I need to leave. I'm not in danger."

"The scratches on your face and the way your robes are torn suggest that you  _have_  been in danger."

"Carrick and I just battled the Burning Legion in Lunarfall. I've been in worse scrapes just a few miles away from Undercity, and you know it, Sylvanas."

Sylvanas leaned against the desk, "The fact that you can talk so casually about battling against the Burning Legion really doesn't put my mind at ease, you know. I want you home, and that's final. You understand that I won't budge on this."

"What if Vol'jin orders me to stay?"

"Vol'jin isn't Garrosh. He knows that it's in his best interests to keep me happy."

"So you just expect me to leave everyone. To leave Thrall and Liadrin and Durotan to fight here on their own?"

Sylvanas smiled, "They won't be on their own, and I think Durotan will understand. You spoke to him about us?"

Faith nodded, not looking altogether happy.

"Look, I know how you feel, love."

"Do you? How would you have liked it as Ranger-General if someone had suddenly pulled you away from a campaign just because they wanted to keep you safe?"

"We're not talking about me, we're talking about you."

"That's convenient."

Sylvanas grabbed Faith's wrist, pulling her close, "You're my favorite subject." She kissed her neck softly, one of her hands cupping her breast.

"Oh, that's low…"

"Mmm, but it's working." She tugged on Faith's robes, the torn material ripping further until it fell off her body.

"We're supposed to be arguing…" said Faith weakly as Sylvanas ran her tongue over her collarbone.

"No, what we're supposed to be doing is reuniting. We'll argue later."

Faith laughed, "Good logic." She let Sylvanas pick her up and bring her to the bed before she placed a spell on the tent to keep people from hearing them. "Are you going to stay dressed?"

"For now. I have a pressing matter to attend to." Kneeling, she spread Faith's legs and dipped her head down, licking the folds of her flesh, feeling Faith's hand on the back of her head, gently massaging her scalp. Faith made a soft sound as Sylvanas' licked her again and again, her eyes rolling back into her head.

" _Oh_ … Sylvanas…"

They were where they belonged, with each other. Not wanting to let go. Never letting go.

* * *

The Horde reinforcements arrived the following day, just in time to see Faith and Sylvanas emerge from their tent.

"By the Light, General, how many people did you bring?" asked Faith, her eyes widening when she saw the sheer number of people walking into Frostwall.

"Apparently you're a popular person," said Sylvanas, smiling at Faith's use of her old title.

"Honey, we can't house everyone here."

"Oh, leave that to us!" said a goblin, smiling toothily up at her. "We brought lots of supplies, so we'll be able to build this place up a little." He looked around, "Did you have to make this place look like a Forsaken stronghold?"

"I  _am_  a Forsaken," she told him.

"All right, all right, we'll keep the same style," he said, rolling his eyes.

Thrall joined them with Liadrin, "The mages are just setting up a permanent portal to Shattrath City. From there, you'll be able to get to Outland, then home."

"I'll be back as soon as I can," said Faith.

Sylvanas cleared her throat, "Says who?"

"Says me. Just because I won't be here on a permanent basis doesn't mean I won't be able to come visit every once in a while." She clamped a hand against Sylvanas' mouth, "Don't."

Outraged, Sylvanas freed herself, " _Excuse me_?"

"You're excused." She kissed her quickly to keep her from shouting, as her eyes were flashing a dangerous shade of crimson. "We'll talk about this when we get home."

_Faith, I mean it, you're not coming back here!_

She put an arm around Sylvanas' waist, pulling her towards the tower, where they climbed to the second floor to reach the portal to Draenor's Shattrath City. "Any news from them?" she asked Felix, who was stationed nearby.

"The Burning Legion tried attacking them again, but we all managed to hold them back. I don't think we're going to be having any problems with them, not with Outland's forces also helping out."

"Good."

"Safe journey home, Commander," he said.

Faith nodded and stepped through the portal, landing in the gardens of Shattrath City a moment later. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "It's lovely here! The Shattrath City I know doesn't look like this at all."

"I guess it drastically changed after Draenor became Outland," said Sylvanas, sounding irritated.

"Yeah, I suppose a planet being ripped apart would cause some major changes in the landscape."

Sylvanas pointed towards the far end of the garden, against a low wall, "The portal's right over there."

"Not even letting me visit," said Faith, sounding pensive. "It's like you're eager to get me home."

"I  _am_  eager to get you home where you'll be safe, even with the Iron Horde attacking us there."

"The  _what_?" cried Faith. "What do you  _mean_  the Iron Horde is attacking us at home?"

"Oh, I didn't mention that? Right. Apparently a few members of the Iron Horde crossed into Azeroth before the main invasion and have been using various bits of magics to get to Tirisfal Glades. They attacked us and nearly brought down the perimeter wall around the Ruins of Lordaeron a couple of days ago."

"And you tell me this  _now_?" Faith grabbed Sylvanas' hand, dragging her to the portal that would take them to Outland.

"We have plenty of people who can handle them," said Sylvanas reasonably. "Although I'm glad you're taking this seriously."

They went through the portal, and Faith didn't pause until after she and Sylvanas had gone through the vortex that led them to Orgrimmar.

"You come all the way to Draenor to rescue me, and you don't even mention the fact that Garrosh sent a force to attack Undercity? Sylvanas, are you mad?"

"Hardly. You know better than to think I would have left Undercity if there were anything wrong."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me. You know, we could have avoided that whole argument if you'd just led with that."

"I'll remember that next time you get stuck on another planet," said Sylvanas, placing a kiss on her temple. "Ready to go home?"

"Before ya do," said a voice, "I would rather talk to you."

"Warchief," said Sylvanas, turning her head to see Vol'jin walking towards them.

"Vol'jin!" Faith let go of Sylvanas' hand and hugged the troll impulsively, not caring about whatever protocol was supposed to be in place. "It's good to see you, Warchief!"

"It be good to see you too," he said. "How was Draenor?"

"It was different. If you'll give me a day or two, I can compile a report for you so that you can have a better idea of what we're dealing with over there."

"That would be welcome, Commander, thank you."

Faith nodded, "All right. I'll have it ready for you by tomorrow."

"You will be going back soon, I presume?"

She glanced at Sylvanas, raising her eyebrow, "I think so, yes, just to see how things are going. Now that we have portals open there, it shouldn't be a problem."

"The Bronze Dragonflight has let us know that we may not need to go through Shattrath City all the time, which should make it easier for people suffering from portal sickness."

"It would definitely be easier, but this arrangement is good as well. It's better than being completely stuck there without any way of getting home." She smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow, Warchief."

"Enjoy being home for a while."

Faith smiled and made her way towards where several Forsaken mages were busy chanting. "I have to say, I'm glad I don't suffer from portal sickness. I'd never be able to go anywhere." She laughed.

"I daresay that would make it easier to keep you where I want to keep you," Sylvanas told her, laughing as well. She was feeling much calmer now that Faith was with her. Happier. Like she was home.


	28. Chapter 28

**Author's Note:  
**

*WARNING* I ended up making this part fluffy and sappy, so much so that I made myself cry. There was a lot of angst before, then I decided to change it because it was too much and I didn't want to write out another fight scene (although it was good).

* * *

Undercity. It was completely unchanged, still a haven of illicit activities for the Horde, with people slinking about dark corners, and abominations roaming the streets, looking for wrongdoers. As long as nobody conspired against Sylvanas, they left citizens alone.

Faith had missed it dearly. The slime-filled canals, the intricate architecture that was so reminiscent of the Scourge without looking as evil, the people.

Even the smell, which always took some time to get used to.

"Had you expected it to disappear while you were gone, love?" Sylvanas asked her as they slowly walked through the corridors, making their way to their chambers.

"I don't know. I've been away from home for longer periods of time but never quite this long without being able to contact anyone here. Truth be told, I think my missing Undercity is an extension of just how much I miss you when I'm away."

"And you want to leave me again, you silly creature." Sylvanas kissed her cheek.

"It's not that I  _want_  to. It's like when you left me when we were alive. You didn't want to leave me, but you did it anyway, because you had a job to do that took you away from me. Honestly, how many times do we have to go through this?"

"Maybe I just like to hear you tell me that you don't like to be away from me."

Faith chuckled, "You need me to tell you that? I thought you knew this without my needing to mention anything."

"You know I love you without my needing to say it, but you love to hear it just the same."

"Mmm, that's true. I love it when you say that to me." Faith closed her eyes, remembering all the times Sylvanas had said those words to her. She could almost feel her heart quivering in her chest at the memories.

"Faith?"

"Shhh," she whispered. "I'm falling in love with you again."

Sylvanas smiled, wrapping an arm around Faith's waist, "You fall in love with me almost every time you look at me, my darling."

Opening her eyes, Faith glanced at her lover, "That's also true. Are you telling me you don't reciprocate?"

"Are you asking me whether I fall in love with you every time I look at you? Because falling in love with you the first time was hard enough. Doing it a hundred times a day would be torture, I wouldn't have time for anything else."

Faith pouted, "Loving me is torture?"

"It's excruciating sometimes." Sylvanas pushed Faith against the wall, "Especially when you insist on being away from me." She dipped her head down, kissing a spot on her neck and beginning to suckle on the skin there.

Faith gasped, "Oh… but it's so much fun when we reunite…" she raised a knee gently, rubbing between Sylvanas' legs.

Sylvanas smiled, "Fiend."

"You're the one sucking on my neck."

"But you taste good."

"Maybe we should take this to bed…"

"We should, except that you told Vol'jin you'd compile a report for him, and you wanted to check out the damage left by the Iron Horde on the walls."

"Oh… right." Faith blinked and licked her lips, "Maybe you should stop doing that, then."

"Mmm… no." Sylvanas kissed her again, dominating her mouth in an instant. Her hand found a door – one leading to a storage closet – and opened it, pushing Faith inside. As the door closed behind them, she ripped Faith's robes right off her body.

There was no light in the closet. Both of them had good night vision, but they could only make out shapes in darkness as complete as the one they were in.

They went by touch.

Sylvanas knew the contours of Faith's body almost better than her own, as well as Faith knew hers. They knew every curve, the swell of their breasts under each other's fingers, the way they sounded at every stroke, every caress.

Faith shook in Sylvanas' arms, her throat locked against screams of ecstasy. She held on to Sylvanas' shoulders as sparks of pleasure shot up and down her spine, weakening her knees.

"Let me hear you, damn it," hissed Sylvanas, kissing her again, adding a third finger inside her lover.

Faith's guttural cry filled the chamber. "Oh!  _Oh, Sylvanas…_ "

"That's it. Call out my name. Scream for me, baby."

"Oh… by the  _Gods_ …"

"No, no… don't come yet." She pulled her hand away, and Faith screamed again, in frustration this time.

"Are you  _kidding_  me? I was right there…"

A chuckle, "I want to come with you, not after you."

Faith cursed, "You might have mentioned that before you brought me to the edge and pulled me back again…" She knelt, unlacing Sylvanas' boots by feel before yanking her leggings down. "If you'd waited until we got to our chambers, we might've had more room to maneuver."

"I couldn't wait. Hurry up, love, I'm about ready."

"Oh, I'm glad there's no light in here," she said as she deliberately slowed her hand, gently skimming her fingers up and down the backs of Sylvanas' thighs.

"Faith!" she snarled.

Faith smirked in the darkness, leaning until her lips found Sylvanas' leg. She ran her tongue over her flesh, feeling her quivering under her touch.

"I swear to you, love, if you don't fuck me right now, I'll –." Her voice cut off abruptly as Faith's fingers found her vagina and thrust inside of her.

Sylvanas' knees gave out and she collapsed on top of Faith, who barely managed to catch her, steadying her against her.

"Easy, sweetheart," she whispered, kissing her.

The queen kissed Faith back, her hand between her legs again. Faith moaned, spreading her thighs, her fingers moving faster now.

"Oh… yes. Oh, you know just how to…"

"Oh… Sylvanas…"

They climaxed together. It was almost gentle for them, neither of them convulsing with it. But they trembled against each other, their cheeks pressed together as bliss rolled over them both.

"I love you," they said as one. They kissed.

They emerged from the closet a few moments later, Faith having conjured dressing gowns for them to wear back to their chambers.

"You… do you want to continue this?" Faith asked her.

"You want to write your report while we're making love? I'm not sure Vol'jin would appreciate whatever turn of phrase you'll use there."

Faith laughed gently, "And what, precisely, do you think I'll say in that report while you're making love to me?"

"Oh, something about how I'm the strongest and most beautiful woman you know. How I make you quiver in need and make juices drip right out of your body."

"He knows that already," she whispered.

"Not in that amount of detail, he doesn't."

Faith grinned and let herself into their chambers. Sylvanas closed the door behind them, taking the opportunity to kiss her again, but pulling away before they got started again.

"Mmm, come back here."

"No. Write your report while I attend to other matters."

"Spoil my fun."

"I just dragged you into a closet, love."

"You did. What was that about, anyway?"

Sylvanas shrugged, "I needed you, and didn't feel like waiting ten minutes to get back here."

"And you call me a fiend…"

* * *

Faith returned to Orgrimmar the following day to give her report to Vol'jin in person before returning to Undercity and touring the outer perimeter of the ruins of Lordaeron with Sylvanas.

"You were lucky," she said.

Sylvanas agreed, "I know. Things could have been disastrous for us. I'd rather not be caught unawares again. Lor'themar has stationed an additional thirty experienced mages here who will be training new recruits."

"Sin'dorei mages who will remain in Undercity on a permanent basis?" asked Faith, her eyes wide. "They'll love that."

Sylvanas chuckled, "While it's not an ideal situation, it'll do until the rest of the First Magi Corps return." She looked at Faith with love in her eyes, "You'd think I would have learned by now not to take mages for granted."

"You shouldn't take anyone for granted. You have some amazing forces here who, in some cases, have more than a lifetime of experience. You don't need me to tell you draw upon their knowledge when your regular advisors aren't here."

"You don't," Sylvanas kissed her temple. "But I'm glad you're thinking of Undercity."

"I may never leave you again if I can't be sure of your safety while I'm gone."

"My safety. You need not worry about my safety while you're away, love. My sanity, perhaps."

Faith burst into laughter, "Your sanity's in question no matter what. After all, you decided to shack up with me."

"You sound like I had a choice in the matter. I didn't decide anything – it just happened." Sylvanas pulled Faith to her, "But even if the choice had been mine, I would have made it. You are the only person who makes me feel anything. You bring life into me whenever you're near me, and… I love you, Faith."

The sincerity of that statement washed over them, and for a long moment, they stood there, looking into each other's eyes, just feeling. Faith didn't speak – she couldn't, and wouldn't have known what to say even if she'd been able to respond.

* * *

Days passed, with Faith and Sylvanas never straying away from each other. Together, they rode Ivory over Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine Forest, looking for the Iron Horde, but not finding any trace of them.

"I wonder where they are."

"Oh, they're around," said Sylvanas. "They haven't killed me yet, and I've never met an orc loyal to Garrosh who didn't fulfill his duty to him."

"Well, as it so happens, my number one mission at the moment is to prevent them from doing just that. I know you have the Val'kyr, but I'd prefer not to have to go through the pain of losing you again, even for a moment."

"You're not going to lose me," said Sylvanas, squeezing her waist.

They were flying over the southern end of Silverpine Forest, not far from Shadowfang Keep. "You don't actually think they've gone into the keep, do you?"

"I doubt it," Sylvanas told her. "We cleared that place out years ago, and I had mages put enough spells on it to keep anyone who's not us out of it. Besides, I have a force stationed nearby who patrols the area on a regular basis. They would have warned me if the Iron Horde were near."

"Not if they were killed."

"There's no need to be negative, love. They reported to us just yesterday."

Faith smiled, "Good." Her smile faded as they flew forward, "Sylvanas?"

"Yes?"

"Is Pyrewood Village occupied?"

"Not since the war against Gilneas, why?"

"Because there's smoke coming from a chimney."

"Can you get us closer?"

"I could, but they'll see us. Ivory's not easy to hide, being bright white."

Sylvanas made a thoughtful sound, "Let's get back to the Sepulcher. We'll make a portal back to Undercity from there and get some additional troops."

"You want to battle the Iron Horde now?"

"I'm not going to wait for them to attack us again. Let's go."

Getting the troops from Undercity took them less than an hour. They returned with three hundred people, ready to get more at a moment's notice.

"Do you want prisoners?" Faith asked Sylvanas.

"No. Kill them all."

They did.

The Iron Horde was wholly unprepared for a full-scale attack, and Sylvanas, not really caring about protocol, had a few plague bombs ready to kill anybody trying to get away.

"You know I hate it when you use the Plague, Sylvanas," Faith told her.

"I know. But this'll send a message to everyone."

"Not one I like, love."

"It's a good thing I'm not sending it to you then."

"There are other ways to defeat our enemies. Using the Plague… it's not honorable, especially here, after everything that's happened."

The look Sylvanas gave her was dangerous enough to make the hair stand up at the back of her neck. Saying nothing else, she turned away from her lover, walking through Pyrewood Village to make sure they hadn't missed anyone. But they hadn't, the Forsaken had seen to that.

"They're all dead," said Velonara, who was walking next to her. She was due to go to Draenor the following week with a team of dark rangers in order to back up Rotvine, who had gone back to Gorgrond. "Sylvanas knew what she was doing when she brought the Blight bombs."

"Don't see why she needed me around if she insisted on using that crap."

"Faith, the Blight works. It's useful."

"Oh yeah, it's useful. It was very useful to the damned Scourge when they decided to decimate the entire population of Lordaeron, or have you forgotten that little part of history?" She shook her head, "I'm sorry. I know it's the fastest way to get rid of our enemies. I'm just always going to have a problem with her using it." She looked around quickly, "Don't tell her about this."

Velonara bit her lip, nodding at a point just behind Faith's shoulder.

A soft Thalassian curse dropped from Faith's mouth, and she turned around, seeing Sylvanas there, watching her with an unreadable expression on her face.

"What is it she's not supposed to tell me?"

"You already know how I feel, which is why it's pointless to hash it out again." Faith walked past her. "I'll see you later, love."

"Don't you walk away from me."

Faith closed her eyes and counted to five, "Sylvanas. I'm upset about the methods you used to fight the Iron Horde today. I think there were other ways we could have used to achieve victory, and you know that I feel like this. Now, I'd like to take some time alone to process how I feel, and I can't do that here, and especially not with you. I will come home in a couple of hours."

Sylvanas grabbed her hand gently, "Hold on." She turned her to face her, "I understand that you're upset, and I'm sorry. You know where to find me if you need to talk." She went to kiss her but Faith pulled away.

"I'll see you later," she repeated, walking away and making a quick portal. She went through it, closing it almost immediately with a wave of her hand.

* * *

The room hadn't changed since the last time she had been in there. She knew she shouldn't have been there, but she'd felt a twinge of sorrow, sorrow so intense that the thoughts she'd been hearing had been suicidal. It had only been for an instant, but fear had laced her heart, prompting her to go find her lover.

_I know I upset you, my darling_ , she thought, gently closing the door behind her and walking towards where Faith was sitting on the floor.

They were in her old apartments at Sunfury Spire. The bed was made, a small dagger laying there, forgotten during their previous visit. The curtains were drawn, but she figured Faith had done that with a spell, since her magic gently permeated the room.

Faith herself was sitting inside the walk-in closet, a white cape wrapped around her. Sylvanas recognized the garment as the one belonging to her formal general's uniform, when she'd been forced to wear it at social functions. She had the same one in black in Undercity.

"Honey?"

"Sylvanas, I said I'd be home later."

"And I would have left you alone, except that I don't like you thinking about how quickly you would burn if you were to cast your own black fire upon yourself."

"You heard that?" asked Faith, sounding alarmed. "That's… that's bad. You're not supposed to hear that."

"And you're not supposed to feel those kinds of urges. Not again." She sat down, her back against Faith's. "Talk to me."

"No need. It passed."

"Faith, please."

Faith nodded, but remained silent for another couple of minutes, resting her head against Sylvanas'. "I know that using the Blight is in your nature," she began softly. "And I realize that you were a member of the Scourge for a year, and that this fact altered your personality in an irrevocable manner."

Sylvanas waited, moving her hand so that it would lay just next to Faith's on the floor, their fingers nearly touching.

"But every time this happens… every time you kill people with it, it shatters any kind of illusion I've spun around myself. The illusion where maybe you've turned back into the woman I originally fell in love with." Faith's voice trembled. "I keep thinking… I don't know. I keep thinking maybe that if I love you enough, I'll be able to undo the damage Arthas caused within you when he raised you."

A tear rolled down Sylvanas' cheek. She felt Faith's fingers touch hers.

"But I can't do that, can I? I can't… I can't  _fix_  this. And I want to, Sylvanas." Faith was crying now. "I want to find a way to get you back, and no matter what I do, I can't. I think I've got it and that you're happy, then suddenly, this kind of thing happens, and I'm left not knowing what to do anymore."

Sylvanas found herself swallowing, something she hadn't done very often since she had died, needing to calm herself before she could think of a way to calm Faith. "Faith, my darling… I… don't think there's anything you  _can_  fix." She moved, turning around and wrapping Faith in her arms, her heart breaking when she saw the look on her face.

Faith curled up into Sylvanas' arms, trying hard to stop crying, but failing. She hadn't cried like this in a while, and found that she wanted to run away from it. Run away from everything.

"From the day I met you, until my dying breath, you made my life worth living. It didn't matter that we weren't together then, because I knew, Faith, somehow I knew that the day would come eventually that you would be mine. When Arthas raised me, the only way I kept any kind of grip on sanity was knowing you were still out there."

She held Faith tighter, kissing her cheek and wiping away the dusty tears she found there.

"You can't undo what Arthas did to me when he raised me. But what you've done, my love, what you've done is teach me how to love again. And sometimes, I forget, I forget because I get angry, because I'm desperate to get rid of a threat, or whatever, but you're always there to pull me back towards your love."

Faith licked her lips and looked at her, the glow of her orange eyes dim, "I do?" she asked.

A nod, "You do." Sylvanas rubbed their noses together, "Every day, you remind me what it's like to be in love."

"I love you…"

"I love you. I really love you. I'm not sorry about having used the Blight today, but I'm sorry that my actions made you feel like this. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know you didn't." Faith's kiss was gentle, "I don't suppose I'll ever change your mind about using that stuff in a battle."

Sylvanas gave a rare sigh, "All right, here's what we'll do. We're going to go home and discuss military strategy. And you and I are going to come up with tactics that don't involve the Blight at all."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'll put a team together, and we'll see what we can think of. Maybe we'll be able to apply these tactics on Draenor somehow."

"You mean that? You're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

"Look at me."

Faith's eyes found hers, "You're sincere."

"I'll try, love. For you, I'll try."


	29. Chapter 29

**Author's Note** :

What happens when I work on too many things? I get blocked, which is why this update is nearly two weeks late. Sorry about that, everyone! I've also been really busy with work, and now the World Cup is happening, which will take up some of my time as well.

Also, if you haven't read Christie Golden's new book Before The Storm, you should. Lots of Sylvanas in there!

Love,  
Lunarelle

* * *

Voices carried through the corridors of Undercity, some perfectly understandable, while others were barely more than a murmur.

"Sure, Faith's fire is effective. It's our most powerful weapon. But with all due respect, Commander, it's not infallible, and you can't keep it up forever. It drains you fast."

Sylvanas nodded, looking over at Faith, "Lydon's right. Besides, you say that you don't like the Blight because it destroys everything, but so does your black fire."

Faith looked right back at her, "Things can grow back after I've passed through an area with fire. Nothing grows back where the Blight's been, not unless the area is cleansed."

"You're not wrong there, but the destructive factor of your fire remains."

"I only use my black fire when I'm facing a particularly strong foe nowadays. Or on remnants of the Scourge."

"I think it's safe to say you're not going to face the Scourge on Draenor," said Nathanos with a sneer.

"You're forgetting who created the Scourge, friend," Faith told him. "The Burning Legion has necromancers too."

"What are the odds that you're going to run into necromancers?" he asked, incredulous.

"Remote," answered Sylvanas. "But it's definitely possible. Let us assume, however, that they're not a factor."

They had been discussing military strategy for the better part of an afternoon, sitting in the same meeting room they had used to discuss the Scourge. The old map of Northrend reminded Faith of days gone by, when everything seemed to be simpler.

"You seemed a little distracted today," Sylvanas told her later. "Are you all right?"

Faith nodded towards the map. "I'm sorry. Things were easier back then."

"Back when the Scourge was running rampant and Arthas was still alive?"

"When I wasn't the one commanding entire battalions. It comes more naturally to you than it does to me."

"I have a few years of experience in the matter." She brushed a lock of hair back from Faith's forehead, "But you're a natural leader."

"I'm not."

"Of course you are. You've been leading people for years."

"It's easier to do when you have others above you making the big decisions."

"I heard you did well on Draenor."

Faith shook her head, "I had no idea what I was doing."

"I never know what I'm doing, to be honest."

"Are you kidding? You built everything here from the ashes."

"I may have done, but a lot of that was guesswork."

"What about when you were Ranger-General?"

"I had the backing of the royal family, it was different." She smiled softly, "I was terrified the first couple of years. I remember waking up all the time in the middle of the night. If I wasn't lusting after you, I was worried that I was doing something horribly wrong and that I would end up leading our people to disaster. You see how well that turned out."

"Baby, you were the best general Quel'Thalas had ever seen."

"Said who?"

"My brothers. I heard them talking about you all the time."

"Your brothers idolized me."

"Most of the kingdom loved and respected you, and it wasn't because you were more radiant and beautiful than a shaft of sunlight over the water."

Sylvanas looked at her, "You should have been a poet, love."

"No. I could barely string a sentence together when I saw you unexpectedly. Coming up with a poem on the spur of the moment… I wouldn't have been able to breathe enough for that."

Soft laughter echoed throughout the room, "Silly girl." Sylvanas smiled putting a hand on the back of Faith's neck and pulling her in for one of those lingering kisses that seemed to be theirs alone. Faith responded as she usually did, with a moan that made Sylvanas crush their bodies together. Need rose between them —

"Uh... should I leave?" came Nathanos' voice.

"Yes," said Sylvanas, barely breaking the kiss. "Close the door behind you."

"Sylvanas!" Faith pulled her head away. "You'd make me blush if I weren't dead. Get your hand out of there."

Sylvanas gave Faith a completely unconvincing look of innocence, pressing her finger once against her clitoris. "It's what you live for."

"And what  _I_  live for," said Nathanos, "is to never see your hand down Faith's leggings again."

"Jealous?" asked Faith, forcing herself to break physical contact with Sylvanas.

He laughed. The sound was far from merry. "Naive, even after all this time."

"Nathanos!" thundered Sylvanas.

He shook his head, looking at her, "You're never going to tell her, are you?"

"That is my decision, not yours."

"No, see this is my decision too, because it affects me, not just you and her."

Faith looked between them, her brow furrowed, "What's going on?" she asked.

Sylvanas looked at her directly, "Do you trust me?" she asked.

"With my life."

A nod, "I will tell you what's going on, I promise."

"But not now?"

"Not now."

Faith nodded as well, "When you're ready." Her kiss on Sylvanas' lips was brief this time, but sincere.

"Thank you, love."

"Although I think you're the one who told me that if there's ever anything unpleasant to tell someone, it's best to get it done and over with as quickly as possible so that it doesn't fester inside you too long."

"And when did I say that?"

Faith shrugged, "I think I was around twenty or so."

"Twenty." She chuckled, "Right, I forgot that you remember every single conversation you and I have ever had."

"Not every conversation," said Faith. "But good change of subject, Sylvanas." She gave a bow, "I'll see you later."

Sylvanas watched her leave, before rounding on Nathanos, "Let's get one thing straight. What I tell Faith is my business. And if you so much as whisper a word to her about the one night you and I shared, I will kill you."

"She deserves to know," said Nathanos stubbornly.

"It happened decades ago. What could it possibly matter if she finds out about it now?"

"She's asked you about it."

Sylvanas flexed her hands, as though trying not to strangle him, and left as well. She felt agitated, not unlike herself at all. She didn't want to talk to Faith about what had transpired a lifetime previously. Didn't want to see that look on Faith's face...

"Sylvanas."

Starting in surprise, Sylvanas stopped walking as Faith came out from behind a column.

"Faith. Honey, I meant it when I said that I'd tell you later."

"Just talk to me. It can't be that bad. And if it is, it's okay, we'll get through it together."

"Even if it hurts you?"

Bracing herself, Faith nodded, "Even then. Tell me."

"I slept with Nathanos."

Faith didn't say anything for a minute. Her eyes, however, registered several emotions. Pain. Betrayal. Disbelief.

"Not recently," she clarified quickly. "This was before the Scourge happened. While we were still alive." She waited, but Faith didn't speak, simply staring at her. "Say something."

"May I be self-involved for a moment?"

"Of course."

Faith slapped her, hard enough to send her staggering back a couple of steps. By the time she had recovered, Faith had walked away from her.

She followed, refusing to let her leave that way. "Faith, let me explain. Please…"

"I know I said we'd get through it together. And we will. Just give me some space right now, Sylvanas, or I swear I'm going to do something I'm going to regret."

Sylvanas wanted to scream. To cry. She knew better than to think Faith would leave her over this. But she still felt wretched about hurting her lover.

There was nothing she could say, and she knew it.

Faith looked almost pitying, "I can't, okay? I just can't. I know that your first instinct right now is to hold me and make me feel better, but that's not what I need at the moment. I need to be away from you for a while, and I need you to understand that."

"I do understand it," said Sylvanas. "Go. I'll be here when you return."

She waited until Faith had gone, then settled in the throne room, reading various reports about Draenor and keeping an eye on the entrance to the Royal Quarter. Scenarios kept running through her mind, where she was left alone with her mistakes, where Faith was nowhere near her.

Where they weren't together. Where Faith was with someone else.

 _I don't think I'd be able to handle this…_  she said to herself, almost panicking at the thought. What if she was wrong and Faith decided to leave her over this?

Faith returned three hours later, looking relatively composed. She glanced at Sylvanas pointedly before making her way to their chambers.

The banshee queen followed her. Her hands were actually shaking as she closed the door behind them.

"You lied to me," began Faith, keeping her back turned. "You looked me in the eye and lied to me when I asked you if you'd slept with him."

"Faith, my love -."

"Don't call me that. Not now."

"I'll always call you that."

"You  _lied_  to me, Sylvanas!"

"I didn't mean to."

"Didn't mean to?" asked Faith incredulously. She closed her eyes and turned around so that Sylvanas could see her face, "You didn't mean to lie to me the three times I asked you about you and Nathanos? You really expect me to believe that?"

"I didn't want to hurt you."

"Good job."

"I didn't want to hurt you," she repeated. "You can choose to believe that or not, but it's how I feel about it. I didn't want to see that look of betrayal on your face when you found out I'd... it was a long time ago."

"I'm not upset about you fucking him, Sylvanas."

"Yes you are."

"Fine, I am. But that's not what this is about."

"I know you're upset about my lying to you. But you have to understand why I did it."

Faith came to her, suddenly getting very close to her, close enough to kiss, "I am your lover. Your best friend. Your partner," she said. "There is no reason for you to ever lie to me. About anything."

"You forgive me?" asked Sylvanas, surprised by how well things were going.

Faith shook her head, "No. Not yet, and maybe not for a long time."

"Fair enough."

Giving a rare sigh, Faith looked up at her lover, "I'm going back to Draenor."

"No you're not," said Sylvanas immediately. "You're not leaving me."

"It's not leaving you. It's taking some space. I can't be around you right now, and I certainly can't be around Nathanos. Seeing the two of you together is going to give me images, and I don't need to think about the two of you making love... I'll end up killing people."

"How long will you be gone?"

"I'll come back periodically to check in." She turned away and grabbed one of her bags, using magic to pack it. She paused after a while, "Did you love him?"

"No. He was just convenient at the time. I... it was several years before the Scourge. I... I needed you, but I couldn't get to you. He was there. That's all."

"Oh, I see, so you're pawning this on me," said Faith. "Typical – you never take the blame for anything."

"Hang on just a second. I'm not  _pawning this off_  on anybody. I'm telling you the way it was. I needed you that night, and I couldn't get to you. It was nobody's fault, it's just the way it happened."

"You could have come to me."

"Yeah? I could have just come down to Everstone Village in the middle of the night and snuck into your bedroom to fuck you in your bed, just like that? How easy do you think that would have been?"

"Do you know how much I  _wanted_  you to do that?"

"Of course I know how much you wanted me to do that! You think I was blind to your feelings or something? We pretended well, sweetheart, but let's not fool ourselves now into thinking we had no idea how we felt about each other."

"So why didn't you?"

"You know why."

Faith shook her head, "So you just fucked him instead of me. How long did that last?"

A blink, "It was one night, Faith, I didn't have a relationship with him."

"Does he know that?"

"Yes, he knows."

"And how fair do you think that was to him? You just used him, then when you were done with him, you discarded him?"

"All right, so you want to know the way it happened. Fine. I knew he cared about me. Hell, it was more than that. I knew he was in love with me. We were spending a lot of time together because I was the one who endorsed him to be one of my rangers, and I was training him personally." She looked away from Faith, remembering. "I liked him. Actually, I liked him a lot, and my parents knew it. They were convinced that it would be a good match for me, despite the fact that he was human."

Faith didn't want to hear this, but forced herself to listen as she packed another outfit into her bag. "They would have preferred you marrying Kael'thas."

"Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. A relationship with Nathanos could, and he would have made a good partner for me. But I was already in love with you." She heard Faith make a noise and glanced at her. "I'd tried to deny it repeatedly, but it was useless. Still, I kept acting as society dictated of me. I took male lovers, whatever. Nathanos was one of them, and it only happened once."

Wincing, Faith looked at Sylvanas again.

"I knew the moment it started that it wouldn't continue. It didn't feel right. But he wanted me, and he acted on it – I guess that's what caused me to go to him in the first place."

Faith opened her mouth to say something, but Sylvanas walked to her and put a finger to her lips.

"I know this isn't making you feel any better. It's not supposed to. You want me to be honest with you about this, so here it is. It was just sex, nothing else. It was a lot for him, but for me, it was about scratching an itch."

"And did it help?"

"No. I could have slept with two dozen men, and it wouldn't have begun to satisfy me. Nathanos was the last male lover I had before you and I finally got together."

She didn't want to ask this… "Was he good?"

"He got the job done."

Faith pulled away, closing her bag and hoisting it over her shoulder, "Answer me this then. How would you feel if you were to find out that I'd slept with someone and lied to you about it, even in the distant past?"

"I'd hate it no matter how long ago it was, and I'd prefer not to know it."

"You lied to me. You lied to me about something that's pretty damn big. How am I supposed to trust you with anything else?"

"I gave my  _life_  for you!" snarled Sylvanas.

"I'm not questioning that. But Sylvanas, for a relationship to work, it can't be based on a lie. It just can't be."

"We haven't based it on a lie. This was just one lie about a lover I had years before I even died."

"I don't care how long ago it…" Faith forced herself to stop. "It doesn't matter now. I'll see you in a few weeks." She walked to the door, stopping when Sylvanas said her name in a broken voice.

"I'm sorry. I thought I was protecting you by not telling you."

"I believe you."

She left.

A few hours later, she was back on Draenor, reuniting with Rotvine and Liadrin in Frostfire Ridge and getting back into the swing of things. Garia was there too, and while she could tell that there was something wrong, she didn't press her about it, merely telling her that they had built a stronghold in Talador and that a group of goblins was on its way to the Spires of Arak.

"We seem to be expanding well," said Faith to her. "Good job, Garia. We'll make sure to send more people to them so that they can build a proper base."

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Her mind flew home, towards Sylvanas, her body seeming to grow cold. Was she with Nathanos now? Would they rekindle their relationship now that she was gone?

 _Don't be stupid, Faith, that's not going to happen_ , came Sylvanas' voice in her mind. It wasn't really her, she knew. Even if they had a gateway open between their worlds, passing through Outland, the two of them couldn't keep up their telepathic communication.

She shook her head, "You can't blame me for thinking this," she said to herself.

Garia looked up, "You know I'm here if you need to talk, right?"

"I know. Thanks, Garia. But this isn't something that I want to talk about just now." It was still too fresh in her mind. Too painful.

She had no idea what to do…


	30. Chapter 30

In a lot of ways, life on Draenor was simple. There were jobs to do, and Faith performed her duties admirably, throwing herself into her work to avoid thinking about her situation with Sylvanas. She didn't want to be away from home while her relationship was fractured the way it was, but it was better for the two of them not to be together for a while.

Faith wrote her a letter the first month she was away, explaining that she loved her and that this wasn't going to change.

_I just really think we need a bit of space right now. We rely too much on each other. Or, at least, I rely too much on you._

_I'm not breaking up with you. I don't think I could do that at this point. But I'm still hurt, Sylvanas. I know this is exactly what you wanted to avoid, and that whatever plan you had in mind backfired horribly._

_I do miss you, though._

She delivered that letter personally, going back to Undercity just to show Sylvanas she was alive and well, and to get a few new troops who would be going back to Draenor with her.

Sylvanas took it from her with fingers that trembled minutely. "Faith –."

"It's not a breakup letter, Sylvanas," she said shortly. "I wouldn't do that to you."

A nod, "All right. Are you staying at all?"

"No. There's an issue with the Alliance in the Spires of Arak, and I'm going to go see what it's about."

"What kind of issue with the Alliance?"

"Nothing good. Something happened to them, but we don't know what. Our people at Axefall weren't very clear."

"D'you need a hand? You want me to come?"

Faith shook her head, "No thanks. We've got more than enough people to handle it. But I'll let you know if I need you for anything." She bowed, "By your leave, my Lady."

"Be safe, Faith."  _I love you, my darling girl._

She closed her eyes.  _I love you._

"Kiss me," said Sylvanas suddenly. Her own eyes began to glow more intensely with what could only have been lust. Even through closed eyelids, Faith saw their burn.

"No, Sylvanas," she said.

"This is not a request, Faith. Come over here and kiss me."

Faith looked at her. The tone in Sylvanas' voice demanded she obey, and she wanted to. Oh, she wanted to. "Please respect my boundaries."

Sylvanas got up and walked around her desk to close the door to her office. "Are we still together?"

"Just read what I wrote you."

"I intend to. But are you still my lover or not?"

"Yes…"

"Then kiss me." She stepped closer to Faith, putting both her hands on her hips.

"No."

"I said yes. Come here."

A tear slipped down Faith's cheek, "You're really going to force me to do this when I don't want to?"

"Since when do you not want to kiss me?" Sylvanas stroked her face. "Please, baby. I beg you."

Faith shook her head, "No. Sylvanas, please don't."

She didn't. But it was obvious by the way her body tensed that she was using every ounce of her willpower to respect Faith's wishes. "It would have been a really good kiss," she whispered, pressing her forehead to Faith's briefly.

"I know," whispered Faith. "It always is." She paused, wishing she could breathe. "Thank you for listening to me."

Sylvanas nodded and forced herself to step away. "You owe me a kiss."

She watched Faith leave, then sank down into a chair, suddenly feeling as close to exhausted as she was apt to get. Her knees felt weak, her lips on fire. She'd really wanted that kiss, and the fact that Faith had denied her was setting her on edge.

Hearing an ominous creak coming from the chair she was sitting in, she looked down, seeing that she was gripping one of its arms a little too tightly. She released her hold and left her office, already missing Faith.

Nathanos met her in the throne room, keeping a respectful distance from her, being as she was still angry with him. She glared over at him, "What is it?"

He said the single word that was sure to get her body quivering in rage, "Worgen."

* * *

The Spires of Arak. A place Faith had only heard of when she'd been stationed in Outland, she'd never imagined it to be quite so… alien.

She chuckled.  _Of course it's alien, you fool. It's on another planet_.

Comprised of multiple peaks, verdant forests, and shorelines that almost seemed deserted, this particular area of Draenor was one that intrigued her.

Especially the arakkoa, whose plight almost seemed worse than the one she had known several years previously.

There were two different sorts: High arakkoas who were beautiful to behold, but cruel and deadly, considering anybody who wasn't part of their ancient civilization to be completely beneath them. They worshipped the sun, and used sun magic, something that would have keenly interested her in life.

The second sort of arakkoa were the cursed ones, the ones she had known as outcasts in Outland. Hunched, seeming mere shadows of their former glorious selves, they were no less proud, and very grateful to have help against the Iron Horde who had settled in their lands. But more pressing was the Burning Legion, who had somehow managed to enslave members of both factions of the arakkoa.

"How do you propose we help them through this?" asked Garia as they sat through a meeting in Crow's Crook, a dark part of the forest in which the arakkoa resided.

"We can't let the arakkoa suffer at the hands of the Burning Legion," she said simply. "None of them, even the High arakkoa."

"You're going to help the high arakkoa as well?" asked one of the hunched creatures sitting with them. "After everything they have done to us?"

Faith gave a nod, "The high arakkoa are bad enough on their own. But if they get corrupted by the Burning Legion, who knows how horrible they'll become. I don't really want to find out, do you?"

"You have not been here long enough to know of this, though."

"I freely admit that. I've only been here a few days, and it's been enough to see that you have a real conflict on your hands." She looked around at the people who were assembled around the fire with her. Most of them were arakkoa, but others were Horde and Alliance adventurers who had been sent all over Draenor to deal with various situations.

"Did you receive any orders from your people before coming here?" asked Reshad, who had been one of the first arakkoa to welcome Faith to the Spires of Arak. Around him flew his bird, a kaliri named Percy.

Faith shook her head, surprised at how quickly the species had learned a language that was common to all of them. "I came to the Spires of Arak because I heard that there had been some trouble with the Alliance. But upon coming here, I saw the attack on Skettis." She shrugged.

"What she's trying not to say," said Garia, "is that she wasn't about to walk by and let people be slaughtered."

Faith shook her head, "I wasn't alone." She nodded towards a human paladin who was sitting opposite her and staring into the flames, "He was there first with his team. All I did was order my team to follow, once I realized what was going on."

"Do you always help each other like that?" asked Azik, an arakkoa with magnificent blue plumage.

"Not at all, no. As a matter of fact, we're normally at war with each other, the same way you guys are with the high arakkoa. We just tend to come together when we're fighting a common enemy."

"You mean that we should form some kind of alliance with the Adherents?" Reshad sounded incredulous, although it was a little hard to tell because his voice was so different than any other creature's.

"You could fight the Burning Legion and the Iron Horde that way – it would be easier."

"We're not the ones who hate them.  _They're_  the ones who hate us because we've fallen."

A nod, "I can appreciate how difficult it is."

The arakkoa looked at her, "Will you help us?"

* * *

Worgen. Sylvanas had thought that all the worgen were out of Gilneas and Lordaeron. What the hell were they doing back? Nothing was left of their homeland, she had seen to that. And despite promises that she'd clean up the area, she hadn't done anything, even though Faith had tried.

For days, she'd had a team looking for the wolves. Nothing had come of it, and if she hadn't known any better, she would have thought that Nathanos had made this up so as to spend time with her.

But he was too focused. Too alert to what was going on for her to believe that he had been anything but serious.

"What… what do you think they want with us?" Nathanos asked her as they scoured Silverpine forest for the loathsome creatures.

"One can only imagine," she told him through clenched teeth. She stopped and knelt, seeing tracks in the grass.

"They could have been from the last time the worgen were here," he said, kneeling next to her.

Sylvanas snorted, "I taught you better than that. Worgen haven't been seen in Silverpine Forest since we cleared them out, and that was nearly two years ago. Do you really think that tracks would remain, especially this clear, over that amount of time? Consider the weather, not to mention other natural elements, and tell me whether a track would remain fresh for long."

Nathanos said nothing. He knew this, of course. It was one of the first things she had taught him when she'd started to train him.

"This is recent," she said to herself. "A few hours at most. And the tracks lead back to Tirisfal Glades."

"But why in the world would they decide to go there? They know we'd kill them in a heartbeat."

"I don't know, Nathanos, I'm not in their minds," she hissed, exasperated. "Now, shut up and let me think."

Nathanos quieted down, backing away from her. This was the most the two of them had spoken since he'd forced her to tell Faith about their night together. He wasn't sure she'd ever forgive him for that.

_You were mine before you ever belonged to her_ , he thought.  _You were mine, and I made you beg in ways she can't._

The thought was savage, treasonous. He knew what Sylvanas had done to the people who had dared to speak out against Faith, and had absolutely no desire to join them in whatever afterlife had awaited them.

Still, his mind lingered, going back to that night time and again, remembering the way the Ranger-General had sounded when he'd –

"If I ever catch you thinking about that again, I will have you burned alive, you understand?"

He started, surprised. "I –."

"No, no, you don't need to speak. Nothing good will come of it in this instance." She glared at him to make sure he got the message, and began to walk, following the tracks out of the corner of her eye. Nathanos fell into step behind her, making sure to keep a fair amount of distance between them, though not too much in case they were ambushed.

They walked like that for a little over an hour, Sylvanas making sure they were going in the right direction. Nathanos was about to ask her what she was thinking of doing when she stopped, her expression unreadable.

In front of them were the bodies of Forsaken.

Or bits and pieces of Forsaken.

A hand.

A leg.

A couple of fingers.

A severed head that lay at the base of a tree, as though whatever animal that had ripped it off the body had simply tossed it aside like an old rag.

Whatever had happened, it was obvious that the killers had taken great pleasure in ending the Forsaken's lives.

In the middle of the carnage was the unmoving body of one of Sylvanas' dark rangers. Her eyes were wide in shock and unmistakable fear, making Nathanos wonder what she could have possibly seen in her final moments.

"Larya," said Sylvanas quietly, kneeling in front of the corpse. She touched the ranger's face with a gentle hand, "Damn them, she served under me in Quel'Thalas."

"I'm sorry, my queen," said Nathanos, hiding his own grief. He remembered the girl in front of him, both alive and undead. She'd kept to the shadows in both lives, preferring not to be in the thick of things, but leading quietly from behind the scenes.

Sylvanas shook her head, "Let's get back to Undercity and get someone to come clean this up. They deserve a proper funeral." She straightened up again, joints creaking with the movement, and began walking away without looking back at the carnage the worgen had left behind.

* * *

The Burning Legion's camp was nestled between three jutting spires and the coastline south of Sethekk Hollow. The fel light made everything appear a foul green color, so different than the one Faith knew from Quel'Thalas.

It reminded her of the plague cauldrons in Tirisfal Glades – a painful connection between the origins of her people and the Burning Legion.

"Sometimes I forget that the Scourge actually came from the Burning Legion," said Garia quietly as they observed the demons walking around, some of them dragging prisoners on chains. All of them were arakkoa, some winged, others cursed. And each of them looked absolutely miserable, tugging at the iron collars around their necks.

Faith could sympathize, but she wasn't there just to watch them from afar.

"We need the Alliance to attack them," she said. "We can't do it on our own."

"I think we may be able tae help with that, lassie."

Faith turned, a smile on her face when she saw Haldren. Behind him were more than twenty other dwarves, along with a small company of night elves, gnomes and pandaren.

"Hi Haldren," she said. "Welcome to hell…"

"Not the first time we've been here," he said amiably. His gaze hardened as he looked at the demons. "So, what's yer plan?"

She didn't really have one, having thought at first about seeing what was going on and coming back later. But it was clear that the arakkoa prisoners were in trouble. "Do you see any leaders?" she asked Garia.

The death knight nodded, "Near the beach," she said. "There's two of them." She pointed and Faith suddenly saw them, two massive Nathrezim who were conversing together.

"We'll have to go around the camp to hit them from the water," she whispered.

"Can we do that?" asked Felix, who had just come up behind her.

"We have to try."

"The arakkoa will be able to help us once we free them too, that'll give us an advantage."

Faith smiled just a little, "Have you ever been held prisoner by the Burning Legion?" she asked him. "They're not going to be in any condition to do anything but escape."

She peered into the camp and counted quickly, estimating that there were at least fifty prisoners there, and twice as many demons.

"We'll have to attack on multiple fronts. I'll need a group to rescue the prisoners, and two other groups dedicated to attacking the demons."

Haldren nodded, "I kin lead the rescue team if yeh want, Commander."

"Thank you, my friend, that would be great. Pick your team, and make sure to have plenty of healers with you. Felix, go with them."

"But –."

"End of discussion," she told him. "Garia, you can lead the first team who will attack. Would you mind being the team attacking from the front?"

"No problem. You'll attack from the beach?"

"Yes."

The teams were organized quickly. Faith found herself with a mixed group of Horde and Alliance members. She wished Rotvine were with her instead of in Gorgrond, where he was still working on the wildlife's corruption. Better still, she wished with all her heart Sylvanas were with her.

She was afraid that this rescue mission would get a lot of people killed.

_We're here to stop the Burning Legion from invading this planet and to keep them from crossing into Azeroth_ , she thought.  _This is exactly what we ought to be doing._

She and her team reached the beach. She waited a heartbeat, making sure that everyone was ready, then gave the signal for everyone to attack.

The signal would have been difficult to miss under ordinary circumstances. But as night fell and the column of fire engulfed both of the dreadlords, it was visible from several hundred yards in every direction, clashing with the green of the camp.

The dreadlords screamed, one of them immediately hitting the water before the flames consumed him. The second one had no such luck as Faith attacked him with her signature move, her hands moving so fast as she cast her spells that they were a blur. Behind her, the other members of her team attacked the dreadlord in the water, attempting to drown it.

A demon came towards her. It was an eredar with violet skin and fel scars all over his body, his eyes glowing so green that they seemed made of fel fire. Faith lost track of what was going on around her as she focused on him, narrowly avoiding the huge sword in his hand when he swung it at her.

She danced around him, casting a spell as she did so that froze his legs enough for her to gain her footing and unsheathe her spellblade, which glowed a brilliant blue and violet.

He gave a cry and swung at her again, freeing his legs as he did so. Faith avoided him again, and again as he cast his own spell at her, a combination of fel fire and shadow magic. Instinctually, she used her spellblade to counter a second spell, and watched, astounded as the blade absorbed it, briefly glowing green.

_What the_ …

She didn't have time to think about it as the eredar suddenly smiled, looking at something behind her head. She glanced down, seeing a shadow pulling up alongside hers, and flattened herself against the sand as a wrathguard tried to stab her in the back. The blade missed, but the demon's movement propelled him forward.

She called out a spell, and the air between the wrathguard and the eredar blurred suddenly. A second later, the spell cleared, showing that the wrathguard's blade had embedded itself in the eredar's chest.

Without any clear idea of how she'd done that, Faith used that moment of confusion to cast three spells in quick succession. The first one engulfed the eredar in black flames. The second one was aimed at freezing the wrathguard in place as it leapt away from the fire, while the third one, a well-placed arcane spell, caused shards of magic to explode from her palms, hitting the demon in the face, killing it almost instantly.

She turned away from it, seeing an iron cage directly to her left. Inside it was a winged arakkoa who appeared to have been tortured, who was looking at her imploringly, cawing softly. Faith's Ravenspeech was nonexistent, even after her time in Outland, so she used a spell that Rhonin had taught her years previously, which he had dubbed the Spell of Speech.

"It's very simple," he had said to her at the time. "You just focus on the speech you're hearing, and you cast a spell for it." He had shown her a complicated diagram in one of his books, which had made little sense to her at the time. "It will allow you to understand the language of any sentient being."

Simple it may have been, but Faith had taken quite some time to learn it. She had only used it once, as practice, on a dragonkin. It had only worked for ten minutes, and not very well, as she'd understood about half of what the creature had said to her, but it had been enough.

She cast her spell as quickly as she could, while trying to be accurate. Magic shimmered between the two of them, then faded softly.

The arakkoa cawed again. Faith understood a single word out of that. "Help."

"I will," she said. "Stand back."

Surprise widened the creature's eyes momentarily before it stepped away from the cage door, shielding its eyes.

Faith's spellblade hit the lock on the door, the fel magic that had been absorbed by it released in the process. The impact was enough to jolt her, and she fell to one knee, stunned.

_Sylvanas, did you tamper with my blade?_

The arakkoa slowly crept out of the cage, looking at her. It opened its mouth to say something, but was unable to as another demon attacked them. This time, it was a voidwalker, and Faith got to her feet quickly, dispatching it.

There were two more occupied cages around her, and she went about freeing the arakkoa inside. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see groups of people freeing the other prisoners and leading them out of the camp while others battled fiercely.

"Time to get rid of this camp," she said. "You all get out of here."

They looked at her, somewhat confused, but she pointed towards the other prisoners to make them understand. Together, they made their way towards them, Faith bringing up the rear and incinerating demons as she went.

She tripped over something in the sand. A body. She looked down, and her entire body grew cold with shock, for lying there, eyes wide open and gazing unseeingly at the sky above, was Haldren.


	31. Chapter 31

Haldren.

He was dead.

Faith stared at his face for a few seconds, wondering whether to scream or simply lie down next to her fallen friend. In that moment, she was horribly exposed to the demons who were still fighting the members of the Horde and the Alliance.

Something grabbed her arm. In her shock, she didn't feel anything, but allowed whoever it was to pull her away from Haldren's body. Her mind flashed back to the Battle of Icecrown Citadel when things had almost seemed simple.

Haldren was dead.

"Come on. We've gotta get her home."

Home? Faith had no idea what anybody was talking about.

"Haldren," she said in a voice completely devoid of all emotion.

"It's all right, Faith." It was Garia. "We'll get him, don't worry."

She felt lost. Someone carried her through a portal, then another. Her mind stayed with Haldren, with his smiling face and the way he'd always called her "lassie". Tears poured down her face, but she didn't notice.

"What happened?"

A new voice. Authoritative. Someone she knew.

Cold hands. She knew those hands. Knew those red eyes.

Sylvanas.

She blinked, her eyes focusing on her lover.

"That's it, look at me, honey." Sylvanas put a hand on her face. "There you go."

"Oh, Sylvanas…" Faith burst into tears, collapsing against her. Sylvanas held her tightly, rocking her back and forth.

"I'm sorry, Faith. I'm so sorry."

Faith didn't know how long she cried for, how long she stayed in the safety of Sylvanas' arms, holding on to her for dear life.

Eventually, she emerged, but stayed close to her lover, the specter of loss still hovering over her. Sylvanas accommodated her, as she always did, letting her sit with her on her throne as she saw to her duties.

"You haven't tried to kiss me…" said Faith quietly.

"You're grieving, love." Sylvanas pressed a kiss to her forehead, "I won't take advantage of you while you're in this state."

"Why not?"

"Because there are certain boundaries that I won't cross with you. You said no before, and I'll respect that until you're ready for me again."

"I'm ready for you."

"No, you want to lose yourself in me to forget about your grief. And while I get that, I don't want you to be like me. Don't close yourself off to emotion."

"I'd be honored to be like you…"

Now that was a delicious statement. Sylvanas absorbed it, holding Faith a little tighter, "I love you. Even when we argue and you drive me absolutely crazy, I love you."

"I love you."

Rotvine showed up, just as Faith was leaning in for a kiss.

"We've recovered Haldren's body," he said, looking battle-worn. "The arakkoa are cleaning it, after which the Alliance will take it back to Ironforge."

"Was anybody else hurt during the recovery?" asked Sylvanas.

He shook his head, "No, Your Majesty. I mean, we lost a few other soldiers in the battle, including a couple of blood elves, but nobody else since."

Sylvanas gave a nod, "Thank you, Carrick. Has Hearthglen been advised?"

"Lady Liadrin did that," he said. He looked at Faith, "The arakkoa wanted me to thank you for saving them."

Faith said nothing.

"Faith, they would have died had you not decided to go in there. Because of you, fifty of them are alive, and being taken care of. All of them together."

"But because of me, we lost ten good people," she whispered, her eyes gazing at Sylvanas' knees.

Sylvanas gently pulled on Faith's hair, "You are commander of the Horde forces on Draenor, Faith. Don't look down. The people you led followed you, both Horde and Alliance. Did you force them to act?"

Faith shook her head.

"How big was this Legion camp?"

"About a hundred demons, give or take," said Rotvine. "From what I heard, anyway, I wasn't there for the battle."

"A hundred demons," mused Sylvanas. "That's a large threat, Faith. I would have done the same thing you did."

"You wouldn't have gone in there without a plan…"

"You didn't go in there without a plan. I heard that you made a plan, and executed it. You rescued the prisoners and killed the demons. Faith, your mission was a success."

She shook her head again and got up, "The price was too steep." She walked away.

Sylvanas caught up with her in the corridor that led to their chambers. "Faith. Honey, wait." Reaching her, she turned her around to face her, "Look at me."

Faith did so, raising her orange eyes to her lover's red ones.

"You're a leader. You have been for years. You know that sometimes, your decisions will get people killed. It's war, casualties are to be expected." She put a finger to Faith's lips, silencing her before she could protest, "It's not your fault. Don't look away from me, Faith."

Faith's eyes snapped back to Sylvanas' face.

"It's not your fault," she repeated. Her eyes widened suddenly as Faith launched herself at her, kissing her passionately. She was so enthusiastic that Sylvanas was only barely able to catch her before they both cashed against the wall.

_By the Gods, Faith!_

Faith responded by deepening the kiss, taking immediate control. Sylvanas allowed this right up until she found herself with Faith's hands down her pants.

_Stop. This instant._

"No…" said Faith, kissing her still.

Sylvanas pushed at her hard enough to cause her to stumble backwards.

Betrayal colored Faith's features, "Why are –."

"Because we're in the corridor, that's why. If you want us to make love, that's fine. I'd actually welcome it, but I told you earlier I didn't want to take advantage of you while you were in this state."

"And  _I_  told you I  _wanted_  you to take advantage of me."

"I respected your wishes when you asked me not to kiss you. Please respect my wishes now." She walked away from her, pausing when she heard a broken sound coming from Faith.

"You don't want me anymore?"

Backtracking immediately, Sylvanas put her arms around her, "See, this is what I mean. You're very vulnerable right now and you're blowing things way out of proportion. When have I ever not wanted you? Were you in my office the other day when I was begging you to kiss me?"

Faith looked at her, "That was just you wanting me to feel better."

"Yes, but it was also me begging you for a kiss. I  _wanted_  to kiss you, Faith. So badly. I want you. I always want you. I can't think sometimes because I want you so much. I…" she stopped talking abruptly and took Faith's hand, nearly dragging her to their room.

The door closed behind them, and Faith was right there, kissing her, her tongue all but taking possession of her mouth. Sylvanas picked her up, feeling her wrap her legs around her waist, hips thrusting gently, seeking.

"Oh… you really need me," hissed Sylvanas. She carried Faith to the bed and dumped her on the mattress before she began to undress.

Faith sat up, grabbing Sylvanas and yanking her closer, inserting two fingers inside her without waiting for her to finish taking off her clothes.

It was dirty. Wet. Something that, even in her undead state, Sylvanas wouldn't have thought about doing with Faith. The two of them had enjoyed their fair share of rough sex, but it had never been about pain before.

When Faith reached into the small trunk that was under the bed, Sylvanas just stared at her. A toy was in her hand, something she'd picked up in Dalaran years ago, as a joke. But it had ended up being more than just a joke.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "We could hardly take it last time." It was true. The toy was impressive, and Faith's enjoyment of it had been minimal despite how eager she'd been to try it with her. Sylvanas still couldn't believe they'd tried it, and that had been when Faith had still been alive.

"Sylvanas," said Faith, nearly panting with desire. "I need you to fuck me, hard. In every possible way."

Every possible way. "Do you want to be in control?"

Faith shook her head, spreading her legs.

"You asked for it, love," she whispered.

She began.

The air was shimmering.

Faith couldn't move. Both her hands were clamped tightly around Sylvanas', their fingers intertwined so tightly that they would have broken had the two of them been alive.

There was a gentle nudge in her mind.

_Are you okay?_

Faith nodded. She couldn't speak. Could barely even think.

They'd been wild, their lovemaking animalistic in its passion.

Sylvanas cleared her throat and kissed her, moving her hips away from her. She felt Faith reaching down and slowly pull the toy out of both their bodies.

"Oh, I'll be feeling that for days…" said Sylvanas quietly, ignoring the empty feeling inside her. "I'll blame you if neither of us can sit normally over the next few hours."

Faith started to laugh. "You insisted on using it on yourself too."

"I wasn't about to let you have all the fun, sweetheart. I'm happy it was long enough for the two of us." She started to get up, but found she couldn't, so she dropped back down on top of Faith, "By the gods, that was something else."

"Are  _you_  okay?"

"Oh yeah." Sylvanas kissed her again. "We should have grief sex more often."

"I'm all for it as long as we don't lose anybody else," Faith told her, running her fingers over her back. "I'm sorry about Larya."

Sylvanas' gaze pierced her own, "She was too young when she died the first time."

"We were all too young then," whispered Faith. She looked at her, "Do you want to do that again?"

"Again?" Sylvanas was incredulous. "We just made love together for an hour, and you want more?"

"Just asking."

"Uh huh." Sylvanas reached down between Faith's legs and found that, incredibly, her lover needed her again. "It's a good thing we're undead," she whispered.

It was quicker this time, Sylvanas using her tongue to make Faith climax yet again.

"Better?" she asked.

Faith gasped, half-sitting, legs still shaking. She reached for Sylvanas' face, gently stroking the skin there. Her eyes were wide and almost translucent in her lust.

Sylvanas settled against her, fully pressing their bodies together. Their kiss was soft, full of love. "D'you understand me now when I tell you that I want you?"

Faith nodded.

"Never doubt that. When I say that I love you, it means that I love all of you. I love the way you are, I love the way you behave, and I love the way you look."

Sylvanas braced herself, kissing Faith one last time before she got up. "How did you know about Larya?"

Faith sat up and ran a finger over Sylvanas' forehead, "We're linked, remember? She flashed through your mind. What happened?"

"Worgen happened. I've got a team hunting them down."

"I'm so sorry. I know you two were friends."

"We weren't… I mean, not really."

"Honey, it's okay for you to have friends, you know. Your whole world doesn't have to be solely focused on me."

Sylvanas arched an eyebrow, "I rather like focusing my entire world on you, love. But I do have friends, thank you."

"Real friends, I don't mean underlings who do your bidding." Faith got out of bed, groaning as her legs shook under her, beginning to get dressed again.

"I know what you mean." She watched as Faith put on her favorite set of black robes, "Are you staying with me a while, or will you be going back to Draenor?"

It was a minute before Faith answered, "I want to stay with you," she said. "We really need to talk. But I have to get back to the Spires of Arak and check on the arakkoa we rescued."

"So soon?"

"It can wait a few hours. I want to write to Ironforge about Haldren."

"You don't have to do that."

"I was his commanding officer. He died under my command – it's my job." She leaned against the dresser, "I just have no idea what to say."

"Of course you know what to say. He fought bravely, fighting for people's freedom against the Burning Legion. He was a hero of the Alliance and of his order."

"That just sounds so… standard. You never made these personal?"

Sylvanas nodded, "I did. If I didn't know the soldier, I would ask someone who knew him or her better. You knew Haldren, love. You know exactly what to say."

Faith's lip trembled, "Did it ever get easier?"

"The moment it gets easy for you to write those kinds of letters is the moment you need to rethink your career. Writing sympathy notes is never easy, nor is it pleasant. But if you feel it's your duty to write them, go ahead. It might help give you a sense of closure."

"Then I forget?"

Sylvanas gave her the kind of smile that was so soft that Faith felt her knees shaking again. "No, baby, you don't forget. You remember the good times, everything you did together, everything that made you like him as a friend."

"Yeah, doing that never worked for me."

"Don't I know it. You take loss harder than anyone I've ever met, even now that you're undead."

Faith looked pointedly at Sylvanas, letting the conversation end there before she got emotional again. Sylvanas began getting dressed, pulling on the first leggings she came across, which happened to be Faith's.

"Hey, they fit!" she declared. "Though they might be a little… snug in certain areas."

" _Belore_ , Sylvanas," hissed Faith. "That's just…"

"Weird?"

"Sexy."

"Perfect. I'll wear your clothes from now on." She smiled when Faith chuckled, and finished putting her clothes on. "Do you want to talk now?" she asked, dreading Faith's answer.

Faith looked at her, suddenly looking weary. "Yeah, all right." She raised her hand, making the bed with a spell before going to sit on it while Sylvanas sat at the desk, facing her.

Sylvanas thought about how to begin. She'd apologized so many times for what she'd done it didn't even sound convincing anymore to her own ears. "I shouldn't have lied to you. I know I hurt you beyond measure when I did that."

Saying nothing, Faith nodded once, watching her.

"I should have been honest with you, and if you'll let me, I'll try harder."

"You shouldn't have to  _try_  to be honest with me, love. It should be natural."

Sylvanas looked down, "I know."

"It's me, Sylvanas. It's  _us_. I mean, I know we used to hide things from each other all the time when we were alive, though we didn't really do a great job of that, did we?"

A small smile, "Not really, no."

"Right. And it doesn't mean that you should be hiding things from me now. Especially not that." She paused. "I always thought that Nathanos' feelings for you were nothing more than an unrequited crush."

"They are. I told you, I never loved him."

"But you slept with him. Sylvanas, he follows your orders even more blindly than I do. He's in love with you."

"Be that as it may, it doesn't change anything. You're my soulmate, not him."

"Have you talked to him about…" she waved her hand between them. "This?"

"He knows what the situation is. Why do you care about him?"

"I don't, I care about you, and I wouldn't want him to do something crazy to you."

Sylvanas started to laugh, "You're afraid that he's going to turn into a murderous ex-lover? Don't worry, honey, he won't touch me."

"That's not what I meant, but I'm glad to hear it."

"He won't betray me, Faith." Sylvanas looked at her, "What are you thinking about doing?"

"Can I tell him to leave?" she asked hopefully.

Now Sylvanas looked pained, "You want him gone?"

"I didn't like him before all of this, and I like him even less now, so, yes, I want him gone. But I won't force you to do that. You're still close, aren't you?"

"Not as close as you may think."

Faith waited.

"We're not. I made him second in command, but that has nothing to do with friendship."

"You trust him."

"Yes, Faith, I trust him."

She nodded, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yes." Faith got off the bed.

"That's it?"

"Don't sound so surprised, love. I don't want us to argue back and forth over this. You don't love him, but you trust him, which I understand. You can't erase your past with him, and I won't ask you to forget what you both shared. I'll never be his greatest fan, but," Faith shrugged. "I won't ask you to stop working with him – it wouldn't make any sense."

"You're taking this surprisingly well."

"No, I'm trying to be reasonable. You didn't fuck him while we were together. Had you done that my reaction might have been a little more… cataclysmic." She walked to Sylvanas and kissed her softly. "Don't lie to me again."

"I promise."

Another kiss, "Thank you."

Faith walked away, meaning to go to Sylvanas' office to work on her letter to Haldren alone, but Sylvanas ended up right behind her, an arm around her shoulders.

"As long as we're being honest with each other," she said, "I guess I should confess to the fact that I don't want you to leave again."

"I don't want to leave either, believe me. The thought of leaving you fills me with dread."

Sylvanas pulled Faith closer to herself, kissing her temple gently. "When are you coming back to me?"

"When Garrosh is dead, I reckon."

"That could be years. No."

Faith smiled, "All right. Two weeks."

"I guess I can accept that. Maybe."

They got to the throne room to find that Nathanos was asking people to bide their time until Sylvanas returned. At least twenty Forsaken were there, waiting to talk to her.

"I love my job, I love my job," muttered Sylvanas, releasing Faith. "Stay with me while I do this?"

"Let me talk to Nathanos really quick, and I'll be right with you."

"You don't need to talk to… why do you want to talk to him?"

Faith only smiled, giving Sylvanas a pat on the arm and walking to the Ranger Lord of the Forsaken. "Might I have a word?" she asked him.

"Certainly," he said.

She went with him to Sylvanas' office, leaving the door open and leaning against the desk, crossing her arms.

"What might I do for you?"

"I wanted to check on how you were doing."

"Doing?" he wondered. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I didn't realize you and Sylvanas had been lovers when you'd been alive."

"I was just the means to an end."

Faith gave a nod, "Yes, that's pretty much what she told me. That doesn't make it any easier for you to love her, does it?"

"She's my queen. Of course I love her."

"Of course." She looked at him, "I'm sorry, Nathanos. I'm sorry it didn't work out between the two of you."

"Are you? Are you really?" his tone was nearly dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, obviously I'm thrilled for myself. But I'm sorry you're hurting."

"You're sorry I'm hurting," he repeated. "Faith, you hate me."

"The feeling's mutual, I think."

Nathanos didn't contradict her, mimicking her posture and leaning against the wall. "So… what do we do?"

Faith sighed, "Sylvanas means everything to me. Everything. Everything I do, everything I've done, has been for her. And since you love her too, I think you'll understand what I'm about to suggest."

"You want us to get along for her sake."

"That's the crux of it, yes. Sylvanas may not love you the way she loves me, but she does trust you. She promoted you to her second, which, if anything, should tell you how she feels about you."

"So what, you're saying you want to be my best friend or something?"

She shook her head, "I think the first thing we need to do is agree not to make false promises here."

"Fair enough."

"You and I won't ever be friends, but I do want to thank you for not lording it over me that you slept with Sylvanas before I did."

Nathanos didn't look at her, "I thought it plenty of times."

"Yes, I think I would have too."

"She said your name."

What? "Excuse me?"

"When we… that night, she said your name. It was soft. I don't think she meant to, but I heard her."

Faith could only imagine what it had taken for Nathanos to admit that to her. "I see…"

"Yeah. So you can understand why I didn't ever mention this to you."

She shook her head slowly, "I'm sorry."

"Me too."

They quieted, looking at each other. Finally, Nathanos inclined his head to her and walked out, leaving her alone with her thoughts.


	32. Chapter 32

Rain fell over Hearthglen. It was a fine rain, the kind that made people want to stay indoors with the windows open to listen to its soothing sound.

But Faith found nothing soothing about it as she stood there, staring at the coffin that held Haldren's body. All she could think about was the way she had failed her friend and how she wasn't fit to lead anybody.

A cold hand slipped into hers, squeezing gently.

_How many times must I tell you that this wasn't your fault?_

A few more, at least.

 _It wasn't your fault, love. He knew what he was getting into. So did everyone else who followed you into battle_.

Sylvanas stepped as close as she could to her without actually standing on her toes.

"I know," said Faith in a low voice. She'd lost people in battle before, but this one for some reason was worse for her. She'd written to his family, and a couple of dusty tears had fallen on the parchment as she'd done so.

Tirion came to stand in front of them, wearing black robes and a cloak "We are gathered here today to mourn for our friend Haldren, who fell in battle against the Burning Legion," he began, looking at all of them in turn. "Haldren embodied the best of both the Argent Crusade and the Ironforge dwarves. He was brave, going into battle without hesitation, with concern only for the people around him instead of for himself."

Faith closed her eyes briefly, leaning into Sylvanas.

"He fought with me against the Lich King himself. A true hero of the Alliance and the Argent Crusade." He turned towards the coffin, "There will never be another like you, my friend. I, for one, shall miss you. Rest well, and see you on the other side."

Clearing his throat, Tirion stepped away from the coffin, allowing others to pay their respects. He spotted Faith and Sylvanas and made for them, smiling sadly.

"Faith," he said, embracing her. "Lady Sylvanas, I am a little surprised to see you here. Did you know Haldren?"

Sylvanas inclined her head, "Lord Tirion. No, I didn't personally know him. I'm here because Faith needs me."

"Well, thank you for coming."

"When will you be taking Haldren's body back to Ironforge?" Faith asked him.

"Tonight. The mages are making a portal."

Faith nodded, reaching into her cloak pocket, "Could you please be so kind as to give this to Haldren's family?"

"Of course," said Tirion, taking the furled scroll from her. "It must be the first time a Horde leader's consort has gone to the trouble of writing a letter to the family of a slain member of the Alliance."

"He was…" Faith paused, ill at ease. "Consort? We're not…"

"Yes you are. It may not be official, but that really doesn't matter."

Faith and Sylvanas looked at each other, not saying a word. Tirion left them there going to talk to Liadrin, who had made the journey from Draenor to be at the small ceremony.

Sylvanas opened her mouth, but Faith put a finger over her lips, shaking her head once. Placing a gentle kiss on it, she spoke anyway, "I was just going to suggest that we go home. You're going back to Draenor in the tonight."

Agreeing, Faith led her away from the others, creating a portal back to Undercity.

"How did your talk with Nathanos go anyway? You never said."

"There's not much to say. We both love you and we just have to live with that fact."

"Oh?"

Faith glanced at her as she closed the portal behind them. "Look, we're not each other's biggest fans. But for you, we'll try to at least get along. If we have to. But for my part, I don't plan on being near him too often."

"So  _that's_  why you're running back to Draenor, I see."

A smile, "You got me. I'm running from Nathanos because I feel threatened by him. Hey, would you mind if I went to the Apothecarium to get a few objects? I'd like to try something with the arakkoa and the spell I performed on one of them didn't work as well as I wanted it to."

"The language spell?"

"That's the one."

"Sure, knock yourself out. And you don't need to ask my permission, you know. You  _are_  my consort after all."

"Am I?"

Sylvanas shrugged, "You might as well be."

"Are you asking me to marry you or something?"

Sylvanas didn't answer, but did look at her pointedly.

"Right. What was I thinking? I'll come see you before I go."

"You'd better." They kissed.

* * *

They had managed to rescue all of the arakkoa who had been held prisoner at the Burning Legion's camp. Most of them had been injured, but they seemed to be mending well. The people at Crow's Crook were looking after them well, whether they were high arakkoa, or cursed, like them.

One of these arakkoa, the first one Faith had rescued, was a female with ivory-colored plumage and orange eyes. She had been surprised when she had seen this creature killing the demons, and even more surprised when her spell had allowed them to communicate. Of course, their communication had been limited, what with the spell being only partially effective, and demons snarling all around them, but it had surprised her nonetheless.

"Where is she?" she asked Reshad, who was walking around, handing everyone a potion to help with their injuries.

"She had to go home to help bury her friend."

"The one who died to save us."

He nodded.

"Why did she do that? Save us. She could have just saved the others, the cursed ones."

"Because I believe that people can learn to settle their differences and work together to build a better world for themselves and for others," said a voice that was both melodious and terrible, with a cold inflection that reminded the arakkoa of death.

The creature turned around, and saw her. Faith.

When she'd first seen her, she hadn't really had the chance to clearly look at her, this being that looked so different than anybody else she'd ever seen. Now, seeing her without the Burning Legion battling around them, the arakkoa saw that this girl looked…

"You are not alive," she said.

"I am not," said Faith. "I didn't mean for that to happen, I assure you." She smiled and introduced herself. "I'm glad to see that you're doing well."

"You can understand me?"

Faith nodded, holding up a blue stone, "These have been enchanted with a language spell to allow us to understand the native creatures of this land." She smiled, "Well, the sentient creatures. I don't think it'll be able to help you if you want to talk to tigers or something." She began to hand them out, "I have about forty of these, and the Undercity apothecaries are working on making more."

"Where do you keep yours?" asked Rotvine, who was standing with a few cursed Arakkoa. He slipped took one of the stones from her and slipped it into his pocket.

"At my belt," she said. She looked down, seeing a shard of blue that had been magically sewn into the black leather. "I figured this was the best place to put it, since my sword hangs there."

"Smart choice," he said. "How are you?"

A shrug, "Ask me next week, I may have a better answer for you."

"It's never easy to bury a friend."

"No, and it doesn't get easier, no matter how many times you do it." She smiled a little at him before turning back to the arakkoa, "I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to talk before I had to suddenly leave."

The arakkoa nodded, "I understand. My name is Lathe, and I want to thank you for helping us. I'm very sorry about your friend."

Faith inclined her head, "Thank you, Lathe. It's nice to meet you."

Reshad walked over, "Welcome back, Commander. We wondered whether we would be seeing you again after what happened. We were saddened to hear about Haldren. He seemed like a good man."

"He was," said Faith. "He did many things that his people can be proud of."

"Will you tell us of his deeds?"

Faith's first inclination was to refuse, but the arakkoa sounded genuinely interested, so she nodded, raising a hand towards the fire and turning it white, blue, and gold.

She began her tale.

* * *

She spoke for some time, telling the ones assembled everything she knew about Haldren. Members of the Horde and Alliance also came to sit by the fire to listen to her speaking. The ones who had known Haldren were silent, remembering.

"He was fearless," she said. "I think he cared very little about the feud between our factions, as long as we all had a common enemy to fight."

"Like you," said Rotvine.

"What do you mean?"

"Just that you're always very quick to team up with the Alliance when it means fighting someone like the Scourge or the Burning Legion. You don't even think twice about it."

"I don't see why I should. There's no reason for us to fight each other when there's a much larger threat around."

Rotvine chuckled, "You do realize that all of our leaders hate that. So do the Alliance leaders, in point of fact."

"I didn't see them complaining when we all teamed up and killed Arthas. Even Sylvanas didn't bat an eye there."

"Well, we all wanted Arthas dead."

"And we all want to see the Iron Horde and the Burning Legion defeated." Faith's tone was final, inviting no further argument.

She got to her feet and walked to the area that she'd set up for herself under an open tent. An active map of Draenor was there, a spell on it showing where various forces were. She could see the Horde in every area, including Talador, and Nagrand.

"They found a large concentration of the Iron Horde in Nagrand, because of the Warsong Clan," said Rotvine, walking over to her.

She nodded, "What can you tell me about the situation in Gorgrond?"

"We found the source of the infection and took care of it. It was an ogre who had a cauldron set up in the mountains. Whatever he was making seeped into a stream, which in turn infected everything around it."

"Like a Plague cauldron."

"Exactly. But the ogre is dead and we neutralized whatever it was he was making."

Faith looked at him, her eyebrow raised, "You neutralized it? Or did you send samples of whatever it was to Sylvanas?"

Rotvine had the grace to look away from her, "How did you…"

"Anything that even remotely resembles the Plague in any way will interest Sylvanas. I'm not sure whether she asked you to investigate that directly, or whether you took it upon yourself to do so, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have just thrown it away."

"She asked Rose to look into that."

"Rose?"

"Newgrave. You remember her."

Faith thought back, and a memory surfaced of the first time she'd been to Tirisfal Glades, before she'd seen Sylvanas again. "She was one of the Forsaken who welcomed us after we arrived from Durotar.  _Belore_ , it's been a while since I even thought about her."

"She's been stationed in Venomspite since the fall of the Lich King, but there wasn't much there for her to do, so she came back to Undercity a few months ago."

"What was she doing in Venomspite?"

Rotvine gave a shrug, "I believe she was studying nerubian venom."

"Nerubian venom," repeated Faith. "Why in the world would she be doing that?"

"Can you not figure out why Sylvanas would have anybody studying nerubian venom? Come on, Faith, think about it for a second." He looked at her, speaking when she didn't, "It killed you. You probably wouldn't have died from all the stab wounds if venom hadn't been in the picture."

Faith shook her head minutely.

"Yes. Your death severely affected Sylvanas – you know this. She hasn't gotten over it, just like you still haven't gotten over her death."

"I know my death was horrible for her."

"More than that, Faith. Your death unhinged her for a bit. She's been determined to find a cure for it, something to help you in case you get poisoned again."

"But I'm not going to get poisoned here… and I'm Forsaken now."

"That doesn't mean that venom doesn't affect you the same way. Plenty of Forsaken have been fatally poisoned."

Faith didn't know what to say to that. The fact that Sylvanas had spent so long studying the venom that had killed her was humbling. "But I was killed eighteen months ago."

"You were hurt before that, though. Sylvanas blames herself for not having found an antidote beforehand. She feels that if she'd had one on hand to combat your particular reaction to the venom, you would have survived the attack."

"I was stabbed over two dozen times, Carrick. Nobody would have survived that."

"You would have. Or at least that's what she feels."

Shaking her head again, Faith said nothing else about it. She could understand what Sylvanas felt, probably better than anybody, but she didn't know what to think about her actions.

She cleared her throat, "Is there anything else to report about Gorgrond?"

"Except for the Iron Horde? Not much, really. We have two teams there, and, as you can see, so does the Alliance."

"But we're fighting on separate fronts."

"For now. I'm pretty sure we're going to regroup and attack the bulk of the Iron Horde forces together at the Blackrock Foundry."

Faith looked at him, "You're pretty sure?"

"All right, so it's what we're going to do. I just don't know when."

"Find out," she told him. "Report back to me when you have."

He nodded and left her side, allowing her to gather her thoughts and think about what her forces were going to do next.

* * *

There were many reasons why Sylvanas hated Faith being away from her. It made her heart feel empty. Nothing was the same without her.  _She_  wasn't the same without her.

But her being away presented several unique possibilities. For one thing, with her gone, her moral center became… fluid, allowing her to do things she wouldn't ordinarily do with her around.

Such as conducting a few experiments to make her Forsaken stronger. They were still too fragile, and without magic to hold them together - mostly Faith's - they would have decayed to nothing a long time ago.

"You know Faith would absolutely hate that you're even thinking about this," said Anya, who was standing in the room with her.

Sylvanas smiled. Anya, like her other dark rangers, was loyal to a fault. At times, she ventured an opinion or two about what was happening, and Sylvanas appreciated it, but those times were few and far between.

"What Faith doesn't know won't hurt her."

"Isn't that the same reasoning that led you into trouble when she found out about you and Nathanos?"

"Careful Anya, you're awfully close to being out of line."

"My apologies, my queen, I mean no disrespect. It's just that when you and Faith fight like this…" her voice trailed off.

"When Faith and I fight, what?"

"It unbalances things in Undercity."

Unbalanced things? "What are you talking about?"

Anya sighed, "It's like when parents fight. The kids don't know what to do about it, and sometimes, they take sides."

"Are you saying that people see Faith and I as the Forsaken's mothers?" Sylvanas sounded more amused than appalled by this idea.

"No, but you're our leaders. We don't like it when you fight."

Sylvanas looked at her, "Don't worry, Anya. I'm not planning on fighting with Faith again anytime soon."

She did concede however that Anya had a point: Faith would hate the fact that she was performing any kind of experiment on the Forsaken, even if they were ultimately for the good of her people.

For Faith's good.

She put a hand on the shoulder of the Forsaken woman who was currently on the table in front of her, "Will you be telling Faith about this?" she asked, almost sweetly.

The woman shook her head, "No, my Lady."

"And neither will you, Anya."

Anya shook her head as well, eyeing the syringe in Sylvanas' hand. The liquid inside it looked viscous. Whatever it was, she knew it was going to be a painful injection, especially when the queen took a strap of leather and put it between the woman's teeth.

"Bite down," she said.

Even with that, the cry reverberated around the room. Anya closed her eyes, wishing she could put her hands over her ears to shut out the sound.

Sylvanas put down the syringe, rubbing the woman's shoulder and looking down at her critically. "How do you feel?"

It took a minute for the Forsaken to answer, "Like I'm on fire."

Anya came closer, "What's supposed to happen?" she wondered.

"There's supposed to be a visible change in her skin. It should become stronger, more difficult to damage."

"All this to make skin… better?" asked Anya.

"It's supposed to make Forsaken stronger."

"Even if this works, my Lady, it'll take you months to vaccinate the entire population of Undercity. Faith is bound to find out."

"If it works, I will tell her about it myself."

They waited a while. On the table, the Forsaken woman, who had volunteered for this, was shaking minutely. The expression on her face clearly indicated that she was in pain.

"What did you use on her?"

"She had a living relative still in Lordaeron," said Sylvanas quietly. "I used her blood with something the Royal Apothecary Society came up with."

"Is her relative still alive?"

Sylvanas didn't really need to answer that question, but she gave Anya a look that clearly said " _of course not_ ".

She checked her watch, something Faith had given her a couple of years previously. When another five minutes has passed, she checked the woman's skin, pricking it gently with a needle.

Nothing happened. The needle didn't pierce the flesh. She pressed a little harder, and the woman looked down at what she was doing. "Does that hurt?"

A nod, "But it's not unbearable."

Sylvanas took the needle away, satisfied, "Do you feel any different?"

"I'm still feeling general pain from whatever that was, but otherwise…" she sat up. "I guess I feel normal."

"All right. Come to my office in an hour, and we'll do a few more tests then to see how you're feeling. In the meantime, take some time to rest. If you feel any changes before that, let me know."

The woman nodded and slowly left the room. Sylvanas and Anya followed a few minutes later, neither of them saying anything. Sylvanas was lost in her own thoughts.

Whatever she had done, it seemed to have worked up to a certain point. The changes hadn't really been visible to the naked eye, but if the Forsaken's skin could be toughened somehow, then it would provide them with additional protection during battle. But Anya was right: it would take months to reach each and every Forsaken, and if the results weren't durable…

"Sylvanas?"

Sylvanas started at the sound of that voice. "Faith," she said, relieved as always when her lover came home to her. "I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

Faith stepped into her arms, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I wasn't going to come home until next week, but… I just wanted to see you."

"Are you all right?" Sylvanas looked at her.

A nod, "Can we be alone for a minute?"

"Of course." She took her hand and went with her to her office, closing the door behind them and going to sit at her desk. Faith immediately came to sit on her lap, resting her head on her shoulder. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Faith didn't answer right away, closing her eyes and allowing the rest of her senses to focus on Sylvanas.

"Admiral Taylor is dead."


	33. Chapter 33

Admiral Taylor. Sylvanas didn't know much about individual members of the Alliance, but she remembered that name. "The one who was fighting with Nazgrim in Pandaria?" she asked.

Faith gave a nod. She looked shattered.

"What happened?"

"Necromancers. Or one necromancer who killed everyone in his garrison. About ninety people that he killed and raised."

"How did you find out about it?"

"A messenger from Axefall came to us while we were still with the arakkoa." Closing her eyes again, Faith stayed against Sylvanas, telling her about what they had seen when they'd gotten to the garrison.

Ghosts. Most of them peaceful, while some of them had been more than a little dangerous. Faith and her team had gone through the entire garrison, even finding a raised puppy on the grounds.

"The bodies were all in the inn's basement. There was even a child there, couldn't have been older than eight years old. Why anybody would have brought a child to Draenor is beyond me."

Sylvanas rubbed her back, "Did you find the necromancer?"

"Yeah. He wasn't really working with anybody. Just someone who wanted to make a name for himself, I reckon. He had Admiral Taylor strapped to some poles, but there was nothing we could do for him – he was already gone."

"What did you do?"

"We were about to engage the necromancer when Taylor's ghost came to help us. He managed a semi-corporeal state, enough to grab a sword…" Faith's voice trailed off. "He didn't deserve to die like that."

"Nobody ever does," Sylvanas told her. "What happened to the ghosts?"

Faith's laugh was humorless, "Well, there's nothing they can do. They've been raised, and they can't move on, so I guess they're going to be stuck like this for a while, unless we kill them."

"Do you want to bring them here?"

"No. I gave them a choice, and they elected to stay on Draenor, at the garrison."

"Doing what? They could be useful elsewhere."

"Sylvanas, I can't force them to do anything. They're content to stay in their garrison, so we'll leave them there. I'll have someone from Axefall check on them periodically, and if something else happens, we'll take care of it then."

"And Admiral Taylor?"

"He wanted to go back to Stormwind, but we realized that ghosts can't go through portals."

Sylvanas looked at her, "So you wouldn't have been able to bring back the other ghosts, even if they'd agreed to come."

A nod, "Right."

"You could have just led with that, love." Sylvanas kissed her cheek, "I wish you wouldn't take everyone's deaths so personally. You hardly knew Admiral Taylor."

"Doesn't mean I wanted him to die like that. I mean, he'd been through so much, only to be killed by a lone necromancer."

"Just like Haldren got killed by an explosion while saving arakkoa. Just like you were killed by two thugs. It happens to everyone."

Faith squeezed her tighter, "I know it does."

"Take another moment," said Sylvanas, "then pull yourself together."

"Thanks for letting me come to you."

Sylvanas put a finger under her chin, "You know you can always come to me, no matter what."

Faith knew. She nodded, giving Sylvanas what she meant to be a light kiss. But Sylvanas put a hand on the back of her neck, keeping her close and deepening the kiss until both their heads spun.

"I love you."

Faith didn't answer, stroking Sylvanas's cheeks gently with her thumbs and looking into her eyes.

There was a knock on the office door.

"Why is it that I can't be alone with you for a few hours without someone disturbing us?"

"I think that unless they hear us screaming, they'll assume we're not busy."

"You're saying we need to have sex for people to leave us alone?"

"I love that idea," said Faith, smiling.

"Fiend," Sylvanas told her.

"Why is it that I'm always a fiend for wanting to make love to you?"

Sylvanas merely smiled, "Enter!"

The door opened, revealing a Sin'dorei soldier in armor spattered with blood. "We have a very big problem"

"We always have a very big problem," said Sylvanas. "What's wrong?"

"The Burning Legion has attacked Shattrath City."

"They always attack Shattrath," said Faith.

"Not like this. Twenty people died in less than an hour. It's a full-scale attack."

Faith and Sylvanas cursed at the same time, getting to their feet.

"Have they assembled the Horde and Alliance forces on Draenor?"

"I don't know – I came as quickly as I could."

"You warned the Aldor and Scryers in Outland, soldier?" asked Faith.

He nodded. "Yes, but everyone said I should come and get you."

"Good call," said Sylvanas. "Faith, go - now. I'll gather additional forces and send them over to you as soon as possible."

"Don't enter the fray yourself, love. Promise me."

"Go." Sylvanas kissed her, briefly but firmly, "Stay safe."

"Stay safe while I go into battle," mused Faith. "Sure, I'll try." She ran out of Sylvanas' office, quickly going to their room and changing into appropriate battle gear: reinforced leggings that were crisscrossed with chain mail while still allowing her freedom of movement, and a matching tunic that covered her from neck to thigh, all colored the deepest shade of black.

Twenty minutes later, she was in Outland, looking at a considerable army of draenei and blood elves. Without a word, knowing they would follow her, she stepped through the portal that led to Draenor.

The scene was terrifying. The sky, which had been a clear blue when she'd last seen it, was a menacing fel green color, bright with falling infernals. Explosions sounded, horribly loud and shaking the land.

It  _was_  a full-scale attack, and the forces on the ground were fighting as hard as they could against a number of fel-tinged eredar that had already arrived in the gardens.

Faith stepped away from the portal quickly as hundreds of Aldor and Scryers began to pour through the magical vortex. She faced them.

"This isn't the Shattrath City you know!" she cried. "But this is what it used to be before the Burning Legion came and destroyed it! The people here are the ones you need to save to safeguard the future of all races against this evil! Fight, my friends! For the Light!"

Most of the people before her gave a great cry, ready for battle. No, this wasn't their world, but all of them knew what it was like to have their homes shattered by an unimaginable force.

And all of them followed her when she gave the command, charging the forces of the Burning Legion.

They cleared the gardens first, making way for the dozens of injured Shattrath City soldiers, who were immediately evacuated to Outland.

"The Legion keeps coming, Commander," said a soldier to her.

"I know," she replied. "Keep fighting. We can't stop until we've killed them all, or they'll destroy everything. We cannot let that happen again."

They would die trying.

* * *

Sylvanas had gathered as many forces as she could, which was admittedly not many, as a lot of her people were already on Draenor. She'd gone to Silvermoon and had gathered a couple hundred Farstriders as well, but altogether, it still didn't seem like enough.

"I'm sorry, Sylvanas, we just don't have the numbers," said Lor'themar to her. He could see a veil of panic clouding Sylvanas' judgment, so worried was she about Faith in battle. "We would have done, before the Scourge, but we simply don't have the forces anymore."

Sylvanas looked at him, hating the position they were in, hating the fact that she couldn't just conjure fully-trained forces out of thin air. It was true that their forces had been greatly depleted, not only by the Scourge, but by the constant battles that had been taking place ever since Quel'Thalas had fallen.

"I'll take them to Draenor myself," she said quietly. "Let's hope we can do some good there."

Of course, she hadn't expected the attack to be quite so massive.

By the time she got to the gardens of Shattrath City, Faith's team had moved on. There were so many injured draenei waiting to be healed, too weak to take the portal and evacuate, that Sylvanas dispatched a couple of priests to help them. One of them gawked at her, more than a little surprised that she would ask him to heal members of the Alliance.

"Would you like to catch up to Commander Everstone, my Lady?" asked one of her soldiers.

She shook her head, "If she sees me here, she'll be distracted and won't manage to do her job. We'll keep behind her unit and cover them."

They began to move, going into the city itself. But they didn't get very far before a rain of infernals came down on them.

"Warlocks, get ready!" she shouted. She had brought a dozen of them just for this purpose, and they took care of the fel creatures nicely, enslaving some of them with a spell and killing the others.

The demons, however, kept coming. Sylvanas didn't have a choice but to kill everything that was between her and Faith, which also kept them from getting into the gardens to finish off the wounded.

"How many of them are there?" cried a Farstrider.

She didn't answer, busy looking for the one who was raining down demons on them. She found her.

Lady Kythira.

"Kill that eredar!" she snarled.

Kythira laughed, summoning forth a rain of fel fire that Sylvanas only narrowly avoided. Three of her Forsaken were caught in it and died almost instantly.

"No..." she whispered. She couldn't let this woman kill her people. Couldn't keep her from getting to Faith. She wouldn't let her.

* * *

By all accounts, the city was lost. Many people had been able to evacuate before the main attack had started, but hundreds of others had perished. Demons were everywhere, killing whoever was left.

But people were still fighting, twelve hours after the attack had begun. A bird flying overhead could see this perfectly. It saw the various groups spread throughout Shattrath, refusing to give up. It saw Sylvanas, still felling demon after demon, long after her arrows had all been spent. It saw a large group of Sunsworn blood elves at the gates of the city, fighting tooth and nail to get in. It saw groups at the harbor, at the city center, and at the Spire of Light.

It saw people still streaming in through the portal in the gardens, evacuating more of the wounded and lending aid to Sylvanas' group. Humans, elves, trolls, Forsaken, all were fighting together.

And together, they managed to push the demons back.

* * *

Faith had made it to the city center. Her team, exhausted, hadn't stopped fighting since they had gotten to Shattrath. A brief respite had allowed them to make a potion to give to the living members of their team in order to help them stay on their feet, and they'd gone on, not stopping until they had gotten rid of all the demons in their area.

There had been some losses – Faith had hardly expected to get through this battle unscathed, but despite these, she felt confident. The people she was with were determined. Even the humans had heeded her command.

"Commander, I have no idea where you learned how to fight like that," said one of them, a man by the name of Ian, whom she learned had grown up in Lakeshire. "But it's been an honor to battle beside you today."

She looked at him, "Thank you, Ian," she told him.

He nodded, "I can see why the Scourge feared you. Did… did Sylvanas teach you how to fight?"

"She taught me some, yes. The rest came from other teachers and experience." She surveyed their surroundings, seeing a bird flying overhead. Even from where she was she could tell it was a druid, possibly a tauren. It circled twice around their position before flying off. "Take a rest, everyone, but make it short. We have to move."

She conjured water and loaves of bread for people who needed to eat, not able to manage more than that, as her energy had been severely depleted during the battle.

"Someone's coming," said Ian, pointing towards a covered archway as he helped himself to some bread.

"Forsaken," said Faith. "Oh, it's… Mavren? Is that you?"

The warrior nodded, saluting her, "Commander. I'm happy to see you alive. Our queen was worried about you."

"You can tell her I'm fine."

"She's just in the gardens helping with the wounded. She wasn't able to get very far – Kythira blocked her path for most of the night."

"Wait, she's here?"

"Yes, she took a team over. They were pinned down, but they were able to keep demons from getting to the portal. A team from Stormwind came to her aid."

Faith started to laugh, "A team from Stormwind helped Sylvanas. There's something that I would have loved to see. How's the battle going?"

"Everything is clear from here to the gardens, as far as I know. Hamuul Runetotem told us that the draenei cleared the harbor as well, and Lady Liadrin and her forces managed to get in through the south gate and clear that area too."

Victory. "How in the world did we manage that?" she asked nobody in particular.

"By working together, I think," said Ian. "The way you've always said we should do. Though I have to say, I never thought I would ever be fighting side by side with a Forsaken."

Faith smiled a little, "There's a first time for everything."

Mavren nodded again, "Sylvanas wants to see you."

"I'm sure she does, but I'm not about to leave combat unless I'm positive that the attack is really over."

"I think it is," he said.

He ended up being right about that. All over the city, draenei, aided by blood elves and various other races were driving out the remnants of the Legion, including the Sargerei, draenei who had allied themselves with the demons.

Faith found herself at the harbor, supervising the burning of the eredar her team had killed during the final push.

"You did a good job here, Faith," Sylvanas told her, walking towards her.

Faith automatically faced her, "Sylvanas. I heard Kythira had you pinned down. Are you all right?"

A nod, "I am. I never thought I'd see the day Stormwind would come to my aid." She squeezed Faith's hand, not kissing her.

Faith squeezed back, "I won't say that I told you so."

"I appreciate it," Sylvanas whispered, leaning close.

A light rain was beginning to fall, washing the blood and gore off the ground. Faith looked at her lover, "Thank you for coming. I didn't think you would."

"You mean you were hoping I wouldn't."

"From a tactical standpoint, I want you in battle because it increases our chances of victory tenfold. But as your lover, no, I don't want you anywhere near a battle. Especially when there are warlocks raining down fire upon you."

"Funny, I feel the exact same way about you. About that, I thought Kythira was a mage? Where did she learn to control demons?"

Faith shrugged, "I guess being an agent of the Burning Legion has some unexpected advantages."

"You can't do that, right?"

"No, nor do I ever want to learn, thank you."

They stayed in Shattrath City for another few hours, helping set up various teams who would be in charge of its defense in case of another attack.

"It doesn't look at all like the Shattrath City in Outland," commented Sylvanas. "I guess the Legion thoroughly destroyed it."

Faith gave a nod, "Hopefully we were able to prevent this. Now that I've seen what this world used to look like, I'm not keen on seeing it shattered."

"I wonder if anybody would ever do that for us. Go back in our timeline to stop our home getting destroyed."

"Only if it helped them in the long run, I think," said Faith.

A chuckle, "True. Not everyone has such pure motives as you do." She put an arm around Faith, leading her back to the portal that would take them home. As they were about to step through it, they heard a bit of conversation that stopped both of them in their tracks.

Ner'zhul.

He was dead.

"Dead?" cried Faith.

The draenei who had spoken looked at her, startled, "Yes… people working with the forces of Karabor killed him in Shadowmoon Valley. Prophet Velen was killed right before the attack."

"Prophet Velen was killed?'" asked Sylvanas, raising an eyebrow.

A look of sorrow came across the soldier's features, "Yes. Our prophet, not the one from your time."

"I'm sorry," said Faith to him. "That's a terrible loss for your people."

He nodded, "Yes. But Yrel has become one of our exarchs, and will be leading our people from now on."

Faith gave a slow blink, "Yrel, the girl we rescued from Ner'zhul's forces in the Tanaan Jungle? I will have to write to her. Losing Velen must have been a terrible blow for her."

"As it was for us all."

"I'm sorry," said Faith again. She inclined her head in respect before following Sylvanas through the portal. Her mind was in chaos, rapid-firing multiple images into her consciousness.

Ner'zhul was dead. No Scourge would ever come forth from the particular timeline they had been in.

"Will there ever be a day when you don't think about the Lich King?" Sylvanas asked her, not liking the look on Faith's face.

"I could ask you whether there will ever be a day when you stop thinking about what Garrosh did to me, but we both know that's a lie."

"That tragedy is much more recent than Arthas' corruption at the hands of Ner'zhul."

"It is. But to answer your question, no, I don't think that day will ever come for me."

Squeezing her hand, she left Sylvanas where she was, and went to their office to write her letter to Yrel.

She wasn't alone long. Just as she was signing the parchment, Rotvine walked in, greeting her warmly.

"I'm happy to see that you came out of that battle unscathed, Faith," he said.

She smiled at him, "Thank you, Carrick. How are you?"

"I can't complain. Sylvanas asked me to come get you… we found Garrosh."

"You found…" Faith got to her feet, dropping her quill, "Where?"

"Nagrand, surrounded by the Warsong clan."

"And you told Sylvanas."

He nodded, "Of course I told Sylvanas."

Cursing softly, Faith rushed out of the office, running into the throne room and all but colliding with Sylvanas, who caught her before they fell.

"Whoa, love, easy. Where's the fire?"

Faith stared at her, "You're here…"

"Well, yeah, where else would you like me to be?" She smiled grimly, "Nagrand, perhaps?"

"You can't blame me for thinking that."

"No, but you should know better than to think I'd rush in somewhere without a thought."

"Like that time you ended up in Icecrown Citadel by yourself with only a couple of rangers?"

Sylvanas pursed her lips, "That was one time."

Faith put both arms around her, pulling her close, "Can you promise me you're not going to go off and kill him without warning?"

"We both know I can't make that kind of promise, Faith. I want him dead. Most of Azeroth wants him dead."

"I know, " she whispered. "I'm just worried that you're going to act irrationally."

"No, we never act irrationally when it comes to each other."

Faith began to laugh, "Right."

Neither of them had ever acted irrationally a day in their lives…

* * *

**Author's note:**

I realize that I'm moving things along a little quickly. That's because I really don't like the Draenor storyline. So my apologies if you think this is going too fast!

Oh, and about Admiral Taylor – you should know him if you've done the quests in the Spires of Arak for the Horde, and if you went to Vashj'ir as a member of the Alliance! Anyway, I hope I answered your questions about him, as several of you have asked about him!

Love,

Lunarelle


	34. Chapter 34

**Author's note:  
** How would you guys feel about an early update?

* * *

Several weeks passed. Reports came in twice a day from the Horde forces scattered across Draenor, from Shadowmoon Valley to the Spires of Arak and Nagrand.

Lathe came to visit Undercity, and personally told Faith about how she and the other high arakkoa had worked with the "broken ones", as she called them, to defeat members of the Shattered Hand clan.

"I'm happy to hear that you worked together," said Faith, smiling at her.

"We never thought that we would ever be able to do something like that."

"What, work together?"

The arakkoa nodded, "We have hated each other for so long that we never thought about talking to each other about anything."

Faith smiled, "And you found out that you have more in common with them than you thought?"

Lathe nodded, "Exactly."

"That's usually how it works. What will you be doing next?"

She told her, and Faith stared at her amazed. She spoke of a new order they were forming, the Order of the Awakened. Made up of all kinds of arakkoa, they wanted to dedicate it to make a better life for their people.

"It will not be easy," she said. "Because not all of our people want this to happen."

A nod, "I can understand that. Sometimes prejudices run too deep, and it can take time to get others to see your point of view."

"Do people see  _your_  point of view? The one about your people working together with the ones they hate?"

Faith laughed, "Not often, no. Mostly they think I'm insane for trying to work with the Alliance."

"But you were able to do it, when you rescued us."

She nodded again, "Yes, it's been known to happen from time to time."

"Only because Faith is a stubborn old fool who won't take no for an answer," came a friendly but deadly voice.

"Who are you calling  _old_?" cried Faith, poking Sylvanas in the abdomen playfully. "You're fifty years older than me!"

"Less than that, actually, if you factor in the fact that you lived a few more years after my death."

"You're still older than me." Faith took her hand, "Sylvanas, this is Lathe, one of the arakkoa from the Burning Legion's camp. Lathe, this is Sylvanas, Banshee Queen of the Forsaken."

"And her girlfriend," said Sylvanas, shaking Lathe's clawed hand.

"Girlfriend. You mean like… your mate?"

Sylvanas nodded, "For quite a while now. Does that happen with the arakkoa?"

"Two females together? I have not seen it within our kind. We normally have mates to have eggs."

"In our case it's more for love and companionship," Sylvanas put an arm around her and kissed her. "Obviously we can't have children."

"Although Sylvanas says that we're parents to every Forsaken here," said Faith, chuckling. "Have you told Nathanos you think this?"

"I'm not sure how much he'd appreciate that, to be honest." Laughing, she asked Lathe if she wanted a quick tour of the city, to which the arakkoa agreed.

And so it was that they found themselves walking around Undercity, answering various questions about the lives of the Forsaken. Lathe was fascinated, never having been around undead before.

"It's amazing that you have been able to build a life for yourselves here."

"That's all her," said Faith, looking at Sylvanas fondly. "She built this place from the ground up."

"Don't sell yourself short, Faith. You did a lot for Undercity in the years you came here."

Lathe looked at them. It was a little hard to tell, but she appeared surprised. "You're real partners, aren't you?"

Faith smiled, "I think it's like with any relationship. We've been together for a long time, and we knew each other for a century before that. And she can literally read my mind, which is both a blessing and a curse."

"I would have loved it if my mate had been able to read my mind. You're lucky."

"We have been," agreed Sylvanas.

* * *

Something was different. Wrong. Faith didn't know what it was, but it worried her as she walked through the corridors of Undercity.

_Sylvanas?_

No answer. Sylvanas would have answered her without question had she been there. Lately, the two of them had been practically joined at the hip, not leaving each other's sides for more than an hour at a time.

_Where are you?_

She went to Sylvanas' office, but saw nothing there worth noting. Just a half-finished letter that she had been writing to Vol'jin.

Deciding to ask someone, Faith went to one of the guards in the Royal Quarter.

"I'm sorry, Lady Everstone, but I'm not at liberty to discuss where Her Majesty is."

"You're not  _at liberty_  to discuss it?" asked Faith. "What am I, a spy?"

The guard didn't answer.

"Okay, if you're not talking to me, it means that she's doing something she's not supposed to…" her voice trailed off. "No, surely not. She went to Nagrand, didn't she?"

There was no outwardly reaction from the guard, but Faith didn't need one. She left him, going to her chambers and finding that Sylvanas' best bow and favorite swords were gone. The outfit she'd worn that morning had been hastily discarded on the bed, and a quick inspection showed her that one of her chain mail battle uniforms were no longer in the wardrobe.

 _Damn it, Sylvanas, you promised_ , she thought. She started to create a portal, but to her complete shock, nothing happened, except for a horrible draining sensation coming over her.

"Oh, no you didn't…" she went to the portal room, already guessing what the mages there would tell her. "Could you please make me a portal to Thunder Bluff?" she asked them.

They looked at her apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Lady Everstone, but we're under strict orders to keep you in Undercity until tomorrow."

"Keep me in Undercity," she repeated. "You put a dampening spell on my magic?" her voice was low, dangerous.

"The queen ordered it. She said that nobody was to create portals except for us until tomorrow, especially you."

"So she's gone to Nagrand, and she's going to keep me from going to find her, is that what you're telling me?"

"I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do about it."

"You're serious," she said softly.

"She would have us executed for disobeying this particular order," said the mage. "You know she would."

She did know, that was the worst thing about it. But she still couldn't believe that Sylvanas had done such a thing. The two of them were going to have a long conversation when she got home. One of them, no doubt, in a very loud voice.

* * *

Sylvanas had never been in a place quite like Nagrand before. It looked beautiful. Serene. She knew that her living self would have thoroughly enjoyed spending time in this place, riding through its fields, hunting for dinner.

But as she was now, all she could feel was that there was too much sun, not enough shadows to conceal her. Everything was bright. She wished she were home with Faith.

But Faith was why she was here.

She had been killed.

He had murdered her.

Murdered her.

Rage filled her so quickly that for a moment, she nearly shrieked.

Faith was dead because of him. She was raised.

"Your Majesty."

Sylvanas turned her head towards Rotvine, who was standing with her.

"Don't you think Faith will be upset by the fact that you've forced her stay in Undercity? She'll panic."

"She'll get over it."

He nodded.

"What did you find out?"

"Our forces and the Alliance have invaded Grommashar. Garrosh escaped, but not before he killed a few of his own orcs. Apparently, not everyone in the Warsong Clan agreed with the way he behaved."

"Escaped," repeated Sylvanas. "He ran away, you mean."

"Yes. Yes, I suppose you could say that."

"Do we have anyone on his tail?"

"Velonara's following him. So's Thrall."

"Thrall? What does he want with Garrosh?"

"The same thing everyone wants, I guess. To kill him."

She wasn't about to let Thrall take this kill away from her. "Where?"

"My Lady, perhaps you should —."

"HE MURDERED FAITH!" she roared. "Would you let someone else be his executioner?"

"No, of course not," said Rotvine, looking uncomfortable. "You suffered more than anybody when he had Faith murdered, nobody's suggesting otherwise."

Slightly mollified, aware that he was just trying to appease her with his statement, Sylvanas looked out at the rolling plains in front of her. "Find out where he is, and let me know."

He nodded, "He is as good as yours, my queen."

She watched as he disappeared, smiling slightly. Yes, Garrosh Hellscream was as good as hers.

As good as dead.

* * *

She didn't have long to wait until Rotvine returned to her, bearing the news that Thrall had cornered Garrosh on the plains of Nagrand.

"Velonara found him a split second before," he said to her, "and has an arrow pointed at him as we spe -."

Sylvanas didn't let him finish his sentence before she leapt through the portal he had created, not caring about where it led.

She landed on soft grass, in the shade of a tall tree. In front of her was Thrall, whose back was to her. She could fully see Garrosh, and noted that he seemed supremely unconcerned with the turn of events. His gaze cut to her, and he smirked.

"Ah, of course," he said mockingly. "The dutiful  _wife_  coming to avenge her beloved whore."

"Watch your mouth, dog," snarled Velonara before Sylvanas could reply. "You didn't actually think we were going to allow you to live after what you'd done, did you?"

Garrosh laughed, "Sylvanas can't touch me."

Sylvanas nocked an arrow even before she'd told herself not to do anything rash.

 _Murderer. Bastard. Butcher. Killer_.

She fired, and Garrosh gave a howl of pain as the arrow lodged itself in his knee. He stumbled, and Thrall turned around, spotting her.

"What are you  _doing_ , Sylvanas?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"Avenging my lover's death."

"He's not yours to kill!"

"Watch out!" cried Velonara.

Garrosh had taken several steps forward, raising Gorehowl to cleave Thrall in two. Sylvanas fired another arrow at him, catching his shoulder.

"If you're starting to feel weak, Garrosh," she said casually, walking towards him as Thrall disarmed him with a strike of Doomhammer, "don't feel alarmed." She took an arrow from her quiver, examining it thoughtfully. Its point glinted a venomous green in the light of the sun. "It's just the venom killing you, the same way it killed Cairne." She advanced slowly, "The same way it killed Faith."

The former warchief fell to a knee, running a hand over his eyes. The look on his face was ugly.

"Did you really think that I would let Faith's death go unavenged?" She pulled out a long knife with a beautiful blade that had also been anointed with venom. She stabbed once, and Garrosh parried the blow with his wrist. Blood flew. "That I would let you lived while she had died?" She stabbed again. And again. And again.

"Sylvanas –."

"I've got this, Thrall!" she snarled, not even looking at the shaman. She kicked at Garrosh, who fell over in the grass, his eyes widened when she knelt next to him. "Contemplating your own death?" she asked softly. "You don't actually think I'm done with you, do you?" She pinned his arm with her knee and slowly, almost reverently, plunged her knife into the flesh there. He screamed.

Sylvanas laughed.

"Yes," she whispered. "Hurts, doesn't it? I imagine it's what Faith felt when your thugs stabbed her over and over again." She looked over his body, which was beginning to shake. "They stabbed her here." She stabbed his belly. "And here." His thigh. "And here." His side.

Thrall ran to her, "Sylvanas, that's  _enough_!" he cried, forcefully pulling her off him. "He doesn't deserve that!"

"Faith didn't deserve that either!" she screamed. "Did you forget about what she went through?"

"She's not the only one that Garrosh killed!" Sylvanas struggled, but Thrall slapped her hard enough to stun her. "And you are not the only one who suffered because of his actions." He turned towards Garrosh, who looked up at him. A second later, he had brought Doomhammer down upon his successor's head.

It was over.

* * *

The throne room was empty. Faith had sent everyone away, wanting to be alone while she waited for Sylvanas.

She was in a horrible mood, both scared and angry, which wasn't a good combination for her. She paced for a while, then finally settled down on Sylvanas' throne to wait for her lover's return.

A few minutes after she'd taken a seat, a vortex materialized next to the entrance to the throne room. Faith didn't move as Sylvanas stepped through it with Rotvine and Velonara. Didn't move as Sylvanas came to her, kneeling in front of her.

"Garrosh is dead," she said quietly.

Faith blinked once, "And you killed him yourself?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "I wanted to make him pay for what he'd done to you. But Thrall killed him before I could finish."

"You wanted to make him pay. And you did that without any consideration for how I would feel at finding you gone." Faith's voice was low, never a good sign. She got up, and Sylvanas looked at her, biting her lip. "You tortured him, I suppose."

"Not as much as I wanted to."

A nod. Faith said nothing else, instead leaving the throne room and walking down the corridor that led to her room. She knew Sylvanas would follow, and wasn't disappointed when she heard the queen's running footsteps behind her.

"That's it?" asked Sylvanas. "You're not going to say anything?"

"What is it that you want me to say?"

"How do you feel about it?"

Faith shrugged, "He's dead. I knew it would happen sooner or later." She walked into her room and sat on the bed, her head in her hands. Sylvanas sat with her.

"Faith."

She looked up.

"I know how I felt when you killed Arthas, baby."

"You're going to tell me that you know how I feel?"

Sylvanas nodded.

"I don't know how I feel."

"Lost," said Sylvanas.. "Confused. Sad. A little scared. Angry."

"All of the above," Faith told her. "And then some…"

"You're mad at me."

"Oh, I'm furious with you. How would you have felt if I'd suddenly gone to Icecrown Citadel on my own to kill Arthas without telling you anything about it?"

"You  _didn't_  tell me anything about it, remember? We weren't speaking then."

"I've half a mind right now to never speak of you again." She gently slipped her hand within Sylvanas', "How are you?"

"Me? I'm fine."

"Really, you're fine? You just tortured someone for what I assume was the pleasure of watching him suffer, and you're all right?"

"He killed you. He deserved to suffer. He deserved to bleed every drop of blood in his body and be raised as a meaningless husk forever tethered to the Forsaken." She spoke slowly, her voice tinged with absolute hatred. "Thrall killed him too soon. He showed him the kind of mercy he didn't merit."

Faith moved to sit on Sylvanas' lap, straddling her, "Once more with feeling, love."

Sylvanas' small smile was sad, "You said that you hadn't felt satisfied after you'd killed Arthas."

"I didn't. It wasn' satisfying to kill him. It wasn't even liberating in the way I'd expected it to. It was a weight lifted off my shoulders, but…" she shrugged.

That shrug surmised what Sylvanas was feeling exactly. "It doesn't feel like I avenged you."

Faith kissed her gently, "What were you expecting to feel, love?"

"I don't know. Something more."

Another kiss, this time to Sylvanas' forehead, "Like what?"

Sylvanas' chin trembled. She shook her head as dusty tears began to pour down her face, "I never wanted to raise you, baby. You should have never died, but I… not even in my wildest imagination had I ever thought that I would  _raise_  you from the dead…" She buried her face in Faith's shoulder, trying to hold herself together.

"It's okay," whispered Faith, holding her close. "It's okay, my heart. You can cry."

Sylvanas let go. She sobbed, safe in the knowledge that Faith was there for her, that she wouldn't judge her tears. Faith rubbed her back, saying nothing and trying to soothe her lover as best she could.

They stayed that way for an untold length of time, wrapped in each other. Sylvanas' tears finally stopped, but she remained in her love's embrace, refusing to let go and tightening her grip every time Faith moved.

"I love you so much," she said quietly.

"I love you." Faith kissed her. She tried pulling away, but Sylvanas brought her close again, her tongue snaking into Faith's mouth. She deftly began to unlace the back of Faith's robes, and Faith let her, dipping her own fingers under Sylvanas' tunic.

They made love slowly, almost reverently, reconnecting. With lips against skin, they tasted one another, bringing each other to a new plateau of pleasure and back again, only to continue as the sun went down over Tirisfal Glades.

On Draenor, people celebrated the fall of the Iron Horde, but not too loudly, for Gul'dan had mobilized the Burning Legion in the Tanaan Jungle, determined to take over the planet by any means necessary.

But the Horde and Alliance were already converging on them, from bases that were still being built. Faith would be going there soon, but she didn't know that yet. At that moment, she was lost in Sylvanas' very being, her gentle cries urging Sylvanas on. At that moment, neither cared about anything or anyone except each other, needing to be together for as long as possible. Even when they stopped making love, they kept touching, kissing. Never wanting to let go.


	35. Chapter 35

**Author’s Note** :

I know I could have ended Warlords without going back to the Tanaan Jungle, but I need to involve more of the Burning Legion if I’m going to transition at all into the next expansion.

* * *

Faith didn’t want to leave Undercity again.  Didn’t want to leave Sylvanas again.  The two of them had sated themselves on each other, and Faith found that she hated the idea of going anywhere that wasn’t close to her lover.

“Come back to me tonight,” said Sylvanas, kissing her.  “Even if it’s just for an hour, come back to me.”

“An hour,” whispered Faith.  “That hardly seems like it’s enough.”

“It’s not.  It won’t be.  But it’ll be better than us spending weeks apart.  Come home, and we’ll gaze into each other’s eyes for an hour.  We’ll make love, whatever you want.  Just come home at the end of every day.”

And so, a new routine began.  Faith spent her days on Draenor, overseeing the building of a new base in the Tanaan Jungle, while also keeping a force of people throughout Draenor, working with the Alliance to neutralize whatever Iron Horde forces were left.

In the evenings, she went back to Sylvanas for a few hours, the two of them making love or simply being together and being very domestic with each other.

Garia smirked one day when she saw Faith returning to Draenor, walking a little strangely.

“Do I even want to know what our queen did to you to make you walk like that?”

Faith chuckled, “Nothing nearly as exciting as what you think.  I just spent my night working on correspondence and reports, and was sitting on my leg for the most part.”

“You’ll have me believe that you and Sylvanas didn’t… didn’t…”

“Didn’t what?” Faith raised an eyebrow.

Garia shook her head, muttering something under her breath.

“And what about you and Vilak?  How’s that going?”

“What?  There’s no _going_.  Nothing’s happening.”

“Don’t you think it should?”

“No!” she cried.  “I don’t!”

“Yes you do.  I see the way you look at him!  More to the point, I see the way _he_ looks at _you_.”

“Looks at me?  He doesn’t look at me…”

“I beg to differ, Garia, Vilak looks at you very often.  He likes you.  Don’t shake your head at me, woman.”

“I have no time for that…”

“Of course you have time for that.  Everyone has time for that.”

“But we’re dead.”

“You’re going to let a little thing like death stop you?  Sylvanas and I sure didn’t.”

“You and Sylvanas have the kind of relationship that nobody else could have.”

“Of course you can have it.  But in order to have it, you need to give things a try with Vilak.”

“Here?  Now?”

“Why not?  The Burning Legion is fully trying to invade this planet, and we’re about to fight them.  I’m of the opinion that the more love you experience before a battle, the more focused you are.”

Garia stared at her, “You’re my commanding officer, so I can’t really respond to that, but you know what I wanna say to you.”

Faith chuckled, “Being with Sylvanas feels good in thousands of ways, and I think that everyone should experience something similar with the people they care about.  Now, if you have time to talk to me, you have time to go find Vilak and go on patrol with him for a few minutes.  Scout out the perimeter, then report back to me with your findings.”

“But we –.”

“Now, Garia.”

Understanding that she was being dismissed, Garia gave Faith a salute before walking away from her, presumably to go find Vilak, and leaving her to go find Vol’jin, who had just arrived at the camp.

He greeted her with a smile, “Ah, Faith.  I be glad to see you.”

“Thank you, Warchief,” she said, smiling back.  “Welcome to Tanaan Jungle.”

“I’d say that I be happy to be here, but we both know what a lie that would be.”

“I believe you.  I left a beautiful woman in my bed in order to come here, and I’m rather eager to get back to her.”

“Oh, I would love to let you get back to Sylvanas.  But there are demons to manage here.”

“Manage, right.  We’ll try to manage them back into the Twisting Nether if we can, but have you seen the monstrosity that is Hellfire Citadel?”  She used her spellblade to point to the impressive structure the Legion had built almost at the center of Tanaan Jungle.  “I saw Hellfire Citadel in Outland, Warchief, and it looks like a child’s toy compared to that thing.  I don’t even want to know how many demons are inside.”

“Luckily, you will not need to _go_ inside.”

Faith frowned, “And who do you suggest go there in my stead?”

“A team of people, but not yourself.  You are a commander now, which means that you lead the troops from behind the front lines.  We will not risk you again.”

“I’m not really sure how we’re going to defeat them all, to be honest,” said Faith.  A couple of scouts had been to the citadel, and had reported hundreds of demons swarming all over the place.  Felhounds, imps, dreadlords, infernals, and even huge demonic spiders that glowed a fel green.  Most worrisome of all was the fact that an enormous eredar had taken up residence inside the citadel.

Word had it that it was Archimonde, and the thought of him alive was enough to cause a tremendous amount of fear to course through Faith’s body.

 _I wish Sylvanas were here_ , she said to herself.

“One at a time,” commented Vol’jin.

Indeed.  That seemed to be the only way to go about defeating the Burning Legion.  Faith just hadn’t counted on so many demons mobilizing so quickly…

* * *

The weeks that passed were some of the busiest ones Faith could remember living through.  Some days saw her stuck on Draenor, unable to go back to Undercity to see Sylvanas, while she organized the various troops that had amassed in the jungle.

They had an enormous army: more than half of the forces on Draenor had joined up with the forces of the Horde and the Alliance, so that they numbered over ten thousand people.

She was worried, though.  Would they be able to attack the Burning Legion without losing too many of their numbers?  They had lost so many people over the past few years that she was loath to put anybody, even members of the Alliance, at risk.

_But if the Burning Legion fully invades this planet, it’s going to be the same nightmare that we’ve already lived through.  Even more people will die._

“We have no choice, Faith,” Vol’jin told her.  “We must attack.”

“We can’t just attack them out of the blue…”

“Yes,” he said.  “Sylvanas would do it, and you know it.”

Faith looked at the maps of the jungle spread in front of her.  Over the past five days, they had painstakingly gotten rid of large pockets of demons that had been roaming throughout the area.  Hundreds of them had been killed, allowing the Horde and Alliance to advance to strategic positions within the jungle itself.

They had cleared the Throne of Kil’Jaeden, which had been overrun with demons, in an attack that had surprised everyone.  The Horde and Alliance soldiers had worked superbly together, troll and worgen druids even going so far as to cleanse the area of the fel corruption.

Furthermore, forces coming from Talador and Gorgrond had spent weeks killing demons to the west of the citadel.  By all accounts, all their foes were now concentrated in one area of Tanaan.

“Whatever’s left is in Hellfire Citadel,” she mused, tapping the map with a white index finger.  “The only problem is that we don’t have the layout of the place, so we have no idea what lies within its halls.”

“We didn’t know the layout of Icecrown Citadel either,” said Rotvine.  “And we did just fine there, remember?”

“I’m not apt to forget that, my friend.”  She looked at him, “But I see where you’re getting at.”  She looked at Vol’jin, “When we attacked Icecrown Citadel, we had to go area by area.  We had various teams that first cleared the antechamber and settled there before clearing out the rest of the fortress, room by room until we got to Arthas.”

Vol’jin nodded, “It seems like a good plan to adopt here.  We can use druids to scout the windows of the citadel to see what be inside.  That will give us an idea of what we be facing.”

“A whole lot of demons,” said Faith grimly.  We’ll need warlocks, a lot of them.  If we can capture demons, they’ll be able to interrogate them, which will give us a better idea of what’s inside.”

“You really think they’ll have time to enslave demons?” Rotvine asked her.  “That takes more than a few seconds, you know.”

She nodded, “I do know.  But it’s an idea.  Please find as many warlocks as you can, Carrick, and explain to them what we’re hoping to do.”  Hearing a noise, she turned her head just in time to see a portal coalescing next to her. She stepped away so that whomever was coming wouldn’t land directly on her.

She blinked, and Rotvine immediately stood as straight as he could, giving a brief salute.

“Sylvanas.”

“Hi,” she said, as though it were perfectly normal for her to have arrived in Tanaan. She stepped closer to her, kissing her cheek.

“Hello, love,” said Faith, kissing her back. “What in the world are you doing here?”

“Making sure you don’t get yourself killed.”

Faith looked at the notes in her hand, “It doesn’t appear to be part of the plan.”

“Good. And I intend to keep it that way.” She turned towards Vol’jin, who was watching them with amusement in his eyes.  “I hope you don’t mind that I came, Warchief.  Since war is keeping my lover away from me, I figured I could come to her.”

“You are always welcome in times of war,” said Vol’jin with a nod.  “Perhaps you can lend us your expertise in planning this attack against Hellfire Citadel.”

“I would be happy to,” she said, looking at the maps.  Immediately, she pointed to an area just inside the circle of demons that surrounded the structure, “Have some pits dug nearby for the demons who don’t get sucked back into the Twisting Nether after we kill them.  It’ll keep the battlefield a little easier to navigate.”  She nodded approvingly at Faith’s notes on the map, which detailed troop positions.

“We’re not done yet,” said Faith quickly, biting her lip to wait for Sylvanas’ verdict.

“But what you’ve done so far is excellent.  I wouldn’t change anything, except maybe pulling the Horde back a little and letting the Alliance take the brunt of the attacks.”

Faith shook her head, “Why would we do that?  I don’t want them to think we’re cowards.”

“Who cares what they think?”

“I do.  We’re working _with_ them, not against them.  Not this time.”

Sylvanas looked at her, “I will break you of that habit yet, love.”

Faith snorted, “You can try.”  She grew serious again, “I’ve been working on some of this directly with Khadgar.  I don’t want to see the Alliance slaughtered.”

“And the Horde?  Your people?”

“Them either.”

Shaking her head, Sylvanas looked back down at the map, “You know I’d hate you if I didn’t love you.”

A smile, “I know.  I love you too, Sylvanas.”

Sylvanas absently took her hand before turning to look at Vol’jin, “It looks like you have everything under control here.  Do you need Faith at the front?”

“Of course not.  She’s the commanding Horde officer here.  I would not want her at the front unless things were very, very bad.”

“Good.  Then she’ll stay in the back with me.”

Faith nearly protested this, but she knew they were right.  As commanding officer, she had to stay in the back of the line to direct operations.  “You know, I almost feel like demoting myself in order to fight with the troops tomorrow.”

“You will do no such thing,” said Sylvanas, turning her head to glare at her.  “If you try, I’ll throw you in the brig myself and you’ll miss the battle altogether.”

“There’s no need to get upset,” Faith told her, her voice soothing.

“Stop talking nonsense, then.  I don’t want you fighting unless we have no other choice.”  She leaned over, whispering, “I don’t want you hurt.  Is that so bad?”

“No,” said Faith.  “No, Sylvanas it’s not.  I wouldn’t want you to go into the battle either.”

“Good, then we understand each other.”

“Yes ma’am.  Wait, you’re staying here for the whole battle?”

A nod, “I heard you were fighting Archimonde.  I’m not about to let you fight that thing on your own, you realize.  I want you alive, not cut to pieces.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Sylvanas paid her no mind, but gripped her hand just a little tighter, not showing any other sign of emotion.  In truth, she was terrified.  The fiends they were fighting had been killed long ago in their own time, and the thought of having to fight them again was nerve-wracking.  She’d felt a sudden despair when she’d heard of Faith’s plans to attack the citadel and had gone to Draenor in a hurry, leaving Nathanos in charge of Undercity.

“Tomorrow,” she mused.  “You’re planning on attacking tomorrow?”

“We have to,” said Rotvine.  “We’ve riled the demons up.  We’ve cleared most of them out of Tanaan, but we need to capitalize on our victories, or they’ll spread out again.”

“And you have everything ready,” she looked at Faith for confirmation.

“We do.”

“Now I understand why you haven’t been coming home.”

“What, you think I wanted to be stuck in this fel-infested nightmare?  We’ve been fighting demonic spiders that rivaled the ones that held me captive in Naxxramas, love.”

Sylvanas released her hand and put an arm around her, “With any luck, we’ll be out of here soon.”

* * *

Soon.

Everyone began to hope that when the attack on Hellfire Citadel began.  Out of all the battles Faith had been in, this one was by far the most frustrating, because she wasn’t participating in it directly.  She felt like a butcher, especially when the demons began to kill the people she was sending forth.  It took all of Sylvanas’ strength to keep her from charging into the fight when their soldiers began to fall.

“You _can’t_!” she cried.  “What do you think they’re going to do if either of us fall?  You’re the one with the most experience here, Faith, you _must_ be practical!  And look, the healers are doing their job.”

It was true.  Paladins, priests, shaman, and druids were working to heal any wounded soldier, directly on the battlefield, or taking people to the back of the line if their injuries were too severe.  Of course, there were many who died outright, but other soldiers were taking the place of the fallen.

“Your job,” Sylvanas told her, “is to look at the big picture and see what we need to do to secure a victory.”

They were able to move into the citadel the day after the attack had begun.  Most demons had retreated inside, which would make the fighting more intense, but Faith had expected that.  Druids had scouted the windows as best they could, and had found where Archimonde was staying.

“You really think we’ll be able to kill him?” Faith asked Sylvanas.

“Oh, there’s not a doubt in my mind.  If he weren’t worried, he wouldn’t have put so many fiends in our way.”

There certainly did appear to be a lot of foes between them and Archimonde.  Some of the demons the warlocks had enslaved given them quite a bit of information about the inner workings of Hellfire Citadel, and thanks to that, they were able to kill a horror that had been named Gorefiend.  Faith was positive that she would have had nightmares about that creature had she still been sleeping.

“It reminded me of one of the Old Gods,” she said to Sylvanas that evening, almost shivering at the memory.

Sylvanas smiled at her, “I’m not sure that demons know what the Old Gods are like, love, being as they’re native to Azeroth.  But I agree that it was a little… harrowing.  Then again, you should be used to it, considering everything you’ve seen in your life and undeath.”

“I suppose so,” she said.  “But it’s still a little disconcerting to – what was that?”

A noise reached their ears.  It was a sound that Faith hadn’t heard since she’d been in Outland.  A sound that was designed to strike fear into people.

A fel reaver.

Someone gave a shout.  A girl screamed, piercingly.  Faith and Sylvanas ran, but by the time they got to the hall where the mechanical construct had appeared, three people had been killed, unable to get away.

“Damn,” hissed Sylvanas.  She let an arrow fly, but for all the good it did, it might as well have been made out of parchment.

Faith cursed.  She hated fel reavers.  She’d never seen one up close before, but seeing them from afar had been quite terrifying enough.  “Arrows won’t work on that thing, love,” she said.  “Spellcasters, _now_!”

Spells began to rain down on the machine, which emitted so much fel green smoke that it choked several people.  The ground shook as several shamans got to work, creating fissures large enough to destabilize it.  A well-placed lava burst, burning hotter than fel fire, began to melt one of its hands, and the sound it made then almost made it seem like it could feel pain.

“Incoming!” cried Rotvine.

Felhounds.  A lot of felhounds with reaching tentacles ready to suck the magic out of anybody they encountered.

Faith turned to face this new threat, “Those of you without magic, attack those felhounds immediately!  The rest of you keep focusing on the reaver!”

It seemed to take forever.  The felhounds swarmed out of a chamber, and kept coming even after everyone had managed to down the fel reaver.  More than one person was caught unawares by the demonic hounds, which sucked several spellcasters dry so quickly that they weren’t able to react in time to save themselves.

But finally, finally, the attack stopped as the last felhound was cut down, its tentacles still writhing in a pool of sickly greenish-black blood.

“That was interesting,” said Faith in a low voice.  “And I don’t think they’re done yet.”

“I wouldn’t be waiting for people to come to me, honestly,” Sylvanas told her.  “I’d go directly to them.”

“So you’re saying…”

“Oh, I’m saying that we’re not going to be able to go forward, not after that.”  She smiled grimly, “And you may want to evacuate the wounded to the back of the line, love, we’re about to have more company.”

* * *

**Author’s Note, part II** :

I’ve actually never run the Hellfire Citadel Raid.  Not even in LFR.  So what I’m writing here is my version of it, and I’m hoping you’ll forgive me if I’ve taken every possible liberty there.

I also wanted to let you know that I’ve created a Facebook account specifically for those of you who would like to contact me on social media.  Just search for Lunarelle – I think you’ll find me!

Love,

Lunarelle


	36. Chapter 36

Sylvanas wished she could have been wrong about the Legion not letting up on their attacks. But unfortunately, her words proved to be prophetic.

Less than a minute after the wounded had been evacuated, an eredar showed up, bigger than any they had seen so far.

The eredar's name was Socrethar, and he had betrayed the Council of Exarchs by murdering several of its members before he had come out as a member of the Legion. Faith had heard about him from Yrel, with whom she'd spoken on several occasions since coming to Tanaan.

Monstrous, he towered over them all, wielding two huge fel-tipped axes, nearly decapitating one of them as he came closer and closer.

"Scared yet?" he asked, giving a dark chuckle. His voice had an inflection that almost sounded undead, yet more evil somehow. His pointed teeth gleamed in the dim green light of the hall.

Faith felt Sylvanas' hand on her shoulder. It trembled minutely.

Socrethar laughed once and raised his arms, casting a spell None of them saw coming. Fel green fire shot out from his axes, incinerating the people closest to him. Faith and Sylvanas were both blasted backwards when the spell hit a large barrier she had erected in time with several others. They fell in a heap, each trying to soften the other's landing.

"Get up, Faith, please, get up," hissed Sylvanas, pulling Faith to her feet. "Come on."

Shaken, Faith stood again, her world tilting crazily as she did so. She looked towards the eredar.

"Retreat!" called an Alliance leader, sounding aghast at what was happening in front of her.

"We have to lead him out of here, Sylvanas," hissed Faith.

The queen nodded grimly, pulling her out of the way of the retreat, as several people, Horde and Alliance alike, ran away.

"No, no, little attackers, you can't get away from me." Socrethar laughed again, and struck. A Forsaken soldier, who had stayed put because Sylvanas hadn't given an order to retreat, was shattered with one stroke, his bones turning to dust where he stood.

"Sylvanas!" cried Faith.

"Pull back!" she called. It wasn't a retreat. It wasn't.

They ran, Sylvanas and Faith making sure that the rest of their forces stayed with them and that Socrethar was following them.

He was, not stopping until he found himself in the front courtyard of the citadel. His eyes widened.

"Concentrate all of your firepower on him!" screamed Sylvanas. "Now, together!" She dove to the side, taking Faith with her.

Various tanks and siege engines had been parked in the courtyard, in preparation for the assault on the citadel, and on Sylvanas' command, they fired everything they had at Socrethar. Canon fire sounded from every direction, and as one, everyone who knew even a little magic cast their spells.

Socrethar attempted to resist the force of the combined assault. Somehow, he managed to parry some of the spells, but was ultimately worn down. He fell to one knee, his eyes disbelieving.

"He's done," said Sylvanas. "Finish this!"

It ended a short while later, as a medley of spells and arrows hit him. He gave an otherworldly cry and seemed to evaporate into thin air as his body was pulled back to the Twisting Nether.

"That looked like it hurt," commented Faith, as she and Sylvanas emerged from behind a partially collapsed wall.

"Mmm, yes, but not quite enough," said Sylvanas, briefly putting an arm around her and kissing her temple. She turned her head, "You have got to be kidding me…"

Faith felt it too, a powerful force was headed their way. The air coming from inside the citadel crackled with evil magic.

* * *

Over the past fifteen years, they had seen many things, some of them too horrific to speak of. Crypt lords. Reanimated dragons. Creatures stitched together from bits and pieces belonging to others.

But not once had any of them ever thought that they would encounter an undead pit lord.

Mannoroth. Even undead, he was unmistakable.

Enormous, his skeleton apparently held together with magic and sagging bits of stinking skin, he had fel fire burning throughout his body, and carried a spear the length of a small ship.

And he wasn't alone. Accompanying him were no less than fifteen eredar necromancers – Faith recognized them for what they were right away – who cast spells over him, apparently keeping him alive.

"Necromancers," she whispered. "We've got this. Sylvanas, you and the others focus on Mannoroth. Keep him distracted while the First Magi Corps works on the eredar."

They didn't have time to say anything else to each other, as Mannoroth immediately began his attack, his spellwork amplified by the necromancy animating him.

Faith led an attack against the nearest necromancer, who didn't see it coming, but who nevertheless managed to put up a barrier in time to counter her spell.

However, he hadn't counted on Carrick coming up from behind him, slicing off his head so neatly and suddenly that it took a while for his body to collapse to the ground, blood pouring from the wound.

"Nice work," Faith told him.

"You too," he said.

They kept going. Once the necromancers realized that the Magi Corps were coming for them, they broke off into two groups, with one group working to keep Mannoroth alive, and the other group to fight.

But it was a lost battle. Mannoroth was immensely strong, but without the full power of the necromancers, he didn't stand a chance against the mass of people that surrounded him.

He fell, with a ground-shattering thud, his scream of rage and pain deafening. The silence that followed seemed very loud, hanging in the air.

Faith walked towards where Sylvanas was kneeling. She'd caught a blow to the leg, and as she got closer, she saw blood seeping down her boot. "Are you all right?" she asked her, kneeling next to her.

Sylvanas gave a nod, hoping that no pain registered on her face. She hadn't expected a stray spell to hit her leg like that. She'd felt the bone shattering., actually causing her to lose her balance.

"It's nothing," she said. It  _wasn't_  anything. She'd suffered dozens of broken bones before. This shouldn't have felt any different.

"Sylvanas, your voice is shaking." Faith took Sylvanas' hand away from the wound, hissing when she saw the white gleam of bone protruding from her leggings. "Your leg is broken, love. You need some serious healing."

"During a battle? Don't be ridiculous."

Faith laughed, calling for several priests, "Take her to the back."

"Belay that order! Don't you dare, Faith."

"Are you kidding me? If our roles were reversed, you'd carry me off the line in an instant!"

"I order you to leave it alone."

"Don't try to pull rank here,  _my Lady_. I'm commander of the entire Horde forces on Draenor. You are queen of Undercity. In this case, I outrank you." She turned to the priests, "Get her to the back," she repeated.

Sylvanas was too stunned to protest as the priests carried her off the front lines and to the back with the wounded. Rotvine went with her, creating a portal back to Undercity and nearly forcing her through it.

"She just pulled rank on me," she said to nobody in particular. "On  _me_."

"She doesn't want you getting hurt more than you already are."

"I'm not hurt!" she cried.

"There is bone protruding from your leg, your Majesty," said Rotvine quietly. "That may be a normal thing for most Forsaken, but not for you."

Sylvanas glared at him, but gave a sharp cry when a priest performed a healing spell on her. The Light sizzled her skin, making it feel as though it were on fire. She clenched her jaw, determined to not make another sound until it was all over.

Rotvine looked apologetic, "I should get back to the front."

The priest took his hands away, "I'm sorry, your Majesty, but your wound will take several days to heal. There is magic to counter here, and it's not a simple break."

She turned her head to look at him, her gaze deadly, "Excuse me?"

"Your leg was broken by magic. Fel magic, that's why it hurts so much."

She wanted to deny the fact that she was in pain, but couldn't. The pain was running up and down her leg, from her toes up to her thigh. "I'm fine. Help me up."

"I wouldn't try to get back to Faith now if I were you. You're hurt, I don't think you'll be able to walk on that leg, and she would kill us all if we were to amputate it and replace it with a leg that wasn't yours."

"Since when are you more afraid of  _her_  than you are of  _me_?"

"Since she could incinerate us with a wave of her hand if we let anything happen to you."

"Not to mention what  _I_  could do to  _you_. Neither of you can stop me from going, you realize."

Rotvine looked at her, "You want to go back to the Hellfire Citadel with a broken leg? Fine. Go. Good luck walking, and good luck getting your Val'kyr to resurrect you from here. I hope dying again, in front of Faith, is fun for you."

"Watch your mouth,  _Rotvine_ ," snarled Sylvanas.

"No. Faith is like a daughter to me, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that she is never hurt again. If that means keeping you from committing suicide in this war, then that's what I'm going to do."

"Keeping her from being hurt is my job," she said. "Not yours."

"You're wrong. But please," he conjured a portal to Shattrath City, moving aside. "Go ahead. If you want to hear Faith scream her head off again as you get killed a fourth time, go. We won't stop you."

Sylvanas shook her head, dejected, knowing he was right, that her leg wouldn't support her through any kind of battle, not in the state it was in. "Get out of here, Carrick. Make sure she's safe. Bring her home to me."

He nodded. A minute later, he had gone back through the portal, leaving her on the floor of the chamber. She felt defeated. A broken leg. A  _broken leg_  had gotten her off the front.

"Stupid," she muttered. "It was a rookie mistake."

"You couldn't have known that your leg was going to get magically broken," said the priest, wrapping a clean white bandage around it. "Master Rotvine said it was a ricochet spell?"

She nodded, "I didn't even see it coming. There was a lot going on."

"You're lucky. Had the full blast hit you, you might have been killed instantly."

Sylvanas made a frustrated sound, "I've had worse injuries before."

"I don't doubt that, but you would never expect Faith to try battling with a broken leg."

"Of course not."

"And yet you're upset because she's applying the exact same rule to you." He helped her stand, and she winced as she applied the barest amount of pressure on her leg. He handed her a cane, and the look on her face was so completely baffled that he burst into laughter.

"I haven't needed a cane a day in my life  _or_  my undeath."

"It will only be for today. I will have a potion made to leech the fel magic out of your wound, after which I'll be able to heal it fully. It will hurt more, don't get me wrong, but you should be fully functional in about twelve hours."

"I watched the love of my life die and was forced to raise her as an undead. I don't think there's anything more painful than that, really."

"I agree with that, although I was lucky, your Majesty. I didn't see my family die while I was alive. They died after me, and by the time I came back, I didn't really care." There was no grief in his voice as he said this. He could have been talking about the weather for all the emotion he showed. Sylvanas suddenly felt sad for him and shook her head quickly, wanting to retain her anger. She took a step forward, forgetting herself, and promptly collapsed as pain exploded in her leg.

" _Damn it_!" she shrieked.

The priest cleared his throat, "I'll get started on that potion. In the meantime, you should sit down and keep your leg elevated."

"Keep it elevated," she repeated. "This is a nightmare." She ran a hand over her eyes as she struggled to her feet again, "Get me a few of my guards before you start on that potion. Have them come to my office."

Sylvanas painstakingly walked out of the healing room she'd been dumped in and made her way to the office, which took her far too long. She was worried about Faith, and consequently snapped at anybody who approached her, even if it was someone wanting to help her get to where she was going.

Was she fighting? Was she still alive?

* * *

Yes.

Faith was still alive. Injured, with blood running down her face and neck, but she was alive.

Archimonde, however, was not.

She had no idea how he had been killed, having hit her head hard enough to black out in the middle of the fight. Her head was still swimming, and she felt distinctly weak, the way she had that time she'd swallowed bad berries and had been sick for several days.

Khadgar was sitting next to her, looking a little shaken, but otherwise all right.

"We killed Archimonde," he said.

"Defeated, you mean," Faith told him. "He could still get his body back in the Twisting Nether."

"Fine, we defeated him. Again. I don't know how we did it, but we did it."

Faith nodded slowly, sitting up and rubbing her temple. "Explain to me why I decided to get hit in the head?"

Khadgar laughed, "Because you're a good person at heart who didn't want to see a soldier get killed. You saved her life, even if she was a member of the Alliance."

"Don't tell Sylvanas that. She'll kill me herself if she finds out I put myself in harm's way for the Alliance."

"And a Gilnean, to boot."

With a shake of her head, Faith got up, "So, what happened at the end with Archimonde? People are saying he cast a spell or something, but nobody saw anything."

Khadgar got up too, putting an arm around her waist to support her, "He certainly appeared to do that, but I can't be sure."

"You look worried, Khadgar."

He nodded, "Some people saw Gul'dan nearby, but then he disappeared. If he was here, though, why wouldn't he have joined the fight? He's working with the Legion, so he should have wanted to keep Archimonde from falling."

"Maybe he thought that Archimonde couldn't die," suggested Faith.

"Maybe, but I wouldn't bet on it. Something happened."

"You don't think this is over."

He shook his head, "No, I don't."

"What are you going to do?"

"Look into this for a bit. I'll let you and the others know if I find anything."

"Like what? Sargeras trying to invade, even though his told lieutenants are dead?"

"I'm not sure I'd survive that kind of discovery, to be honest."

Faith privately agreed, but didn't want to say anything. She also felt that something wasn't right. They had defeated Archimonde - again - and should have been ecstatic about this fact, but something was nagging the back of her mind.

Where was Gul'dan? After everything that had happened, she hardly believed that he had just gone into hiding.

"Do you want help?" she asked.

"Won't Sylvanas be upset if you don't come home?"

"She'll completely freak out, yes." She was already going to be upset at seeing her hurt.

"Go home. I'll come to you if I need help in any way."

Faith nodded, "All right. Be careful, Khadgar."

* * *

Sylvanas knew that Faith was on her way home. She put away bits of parchment that she'd strewn on her desk as she'd toyed with an idea. An idea that would make Faith stronger. More powerful.

_You won't like it at first_ , she said to herself.  _But you'll grow to understand that I'm doing this for you. Just for you._

Her leg was much better. Still painful, but she was able to walk on it. The priest had come to see her since she'd left him, and had wrapped a potion-soaked bandage around her leg, which had helped quite a bit. He would be able to fully heal her in a few hours.

Faith entered the office. She appeared unharmed, but Sylvanas saw the blood on her clothes, and her eyes widened.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice harsh, close to panic. "Are you all right?"

A nod, "I'm fine, Sylvanas, there's no need to worry. See?" she held out her arms. "No injury."

The queen got to her feet slowly, limping towards her. Not a word did she say as she looked Faith over for herself, touching each smear of blood on her lover's tunic and leggings.

"How can you even  _see_  that?"

Sylvanas smirked, "You're my lover, Faith. I know everything about you, including the way your blood alters the fabric of your clothes."

Faith blinked, "You do realize that anybody hearing you would deem you certifiably insane for that statement, right?"

There was a soft chuckle, and Sylvanas' features momentarily smoothed over, "I daresay they would." She kissed her softly. "What happened with Archimonde?"

"Well, you heard that our forces defeated him – there's not much else to say there. I didn't have much to do with it, to be honest, I was unconscious for most of it."

"Unconscious," said Sylvanas, unimpressed. "And you tell me that you're all right."

"I  _am_  all right." She looked down at where Sylvanas' hand was slowly stroking the skin above her right hip, "More so when you touch me there, love." She cleared her throat, "How's your leg?"

"It's better. And speaking of that…"

Faith clamped a gentle hand over Sylvanas' mouth, "I know I don't technically outrank you, and that you're furious with me for having taken you off the line. I will not apologize for doing that. You aren't only my lover, Sylvanas, you're the queen of Undercity, our strongest leader. I don't know what we would do if we lost you."

Sylvanas moved her had away from Faith's hand, "Be that as it may –."

"No. You taught me the rules of triage yourself, Sylvanas. Nobody with a broken leg would have been able to fight, and that includes you. The fact that you're still limping now testifies to how bad an injury that was." She raised a hand towards the door, which closed and locked itself.

"What exactly are you doing?"

Kneeling, Faith gently pulled down Sylvanas' leggings, a little surprised to see her barefoot. She pressed a kiss to her uninjured right leg as her hand ghosted over the bandage that still covered her left thigh. A second later, she'd taken the bandage off and was looking at the wound with a critical eye. "That must hurt like hell, love."

"I've had worse, believe me."

Faith ran her hand over the wound once, twice, a spell naturally flowing from her lips and her hand glowing black momentarily. There was a flash of intense pain, which nearly caused Sylvanas to collapse, but a minute later, it had receded. When Faith took her hand away, the wound was closed, leaving a scar there in the cursive shape of an F.

"You are kidding," said Sylvanas. "You  _branded_  me?"

"You're welcome," said Faith, looking up at her innocently as she pulled her leggings back on.

Sylvanas pulled her to her feet, "Thank you for healing me with necromantic magic, which, once again, I really wish you wouldn't use."

A small smile, "The scar will fade, I promise."

"But your love for me won't."

Faith blinked, "No. My love for you won't fade. Where did you get that idea?"

"Just checking. I love you, you know."

"I know."

* * *

**Author's note:**

And this, my friends, signals the end of Warlords of Draenor! Hurray!

Lunarelle


	37. Chapter 37

**Author’s Note:**

Well.  If any of you have been playing the current content leading up to the Battle For Azeroth, you’ll understand why I have a very heavy heart right now.  I’m seriously considering unsubbing from the game.  I love the Horde, and, in case 133 chapters of the Evermore trilogy hasn’t convinced you, I absolutely love Sylvanas.  But the way the game is going?  No.  I don’t love that.

So, Evermore will span until Legion, and just a little bit beyond.  There is a strong possibility that I won’t even touch Battle For Azeroth, because honestly, I can’t salvage Sylvanas from the wreckage the devs have left her in.

With that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Love,  
Lunarelle

* * *

Peace had come again.  It had been such a hard thing to obtain that nobody wanted to do anything to disturb it.  For years, they had been under attack by various forces, or had been at war with each other, and people had finally had enough.

“We’re finally at peace,” said Faith to Sylvanas one morning as she stretched luxuriously before draping herself over her lover’s body.  “Sylvanas, we haven’t truly been at peace since before Deathwing came out of Deepholm.”

Sylvanas looked at her, “You do realize that there’s nothing for us to _do_ during peacetime.”

Faith grinned, moving a leg to rest between Sylvanas’ thighs, “There is plenty to do.”

“We’ve already done that once today.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t do it again,” whispered Faith, kissing her.  “And again.  And again.  It’s not like either of us have anything else to do right now.”  Her kiss deepened, and she moved her hand until her fingers were inside Sylvanas’ body.

“Oh!”  Sylvanas spread her legs, arching her back to meet Faith’s hand.  Oh, she knew just how to get her going.  “Oh, my Faith…”  She cursed brokenly, unable to take it when Faith did this to her.  Biting down on a scream, she climaxed, shaking and pulling Faith down on top of her as her pleasure began to ebb slowly.

“Are you okay?” Faith asked her, kissing the hollow of her throat.

A nod.  “I didn’t expect to come so quickly.”

“I love it when you do.”

“Mmm, yes, I gathered that.”  She sat up, “All right, let’s go.”

“Go?  We don’t have anywhere to go.”

“We might be ‘at peace’, whatever that means, but I still have a city to run.”

Faith rolled her eyes, but only a little, smiling, “Fine.  Go be responsible and leave me here alone.  Naked.”  She sprawled down onto the bed, stretching again and cupping her own breast.

“Stop it, you fiend,” Sylvanas told her, unable to stop herself from staring.

“I’m lonely, and I need more sex.  What else would you like me to do?”

Sylvanas began to laugh, “Get over it like you always do.  If you’re good, I’ll make sure you and I are alone in the throne room later.”

“Alone in the…” Faith sat up suddenly, “Really?”

“That got your attention quickly.  Get dressed.”

“You’re serious, though?  The throne room?”

Arching an eyebrow, Sylvanas tossed Faith’s robes back to her, “If you’re good.”

“I’m always good!”

Conceding that point, Sylvanas smiled, “I do need you to take over court for a while today.  There are a couple of things I need to take care of.”

“Like what?”

“You’ll find out.”

“Sylvanas, I hate surprises, you know this.”

“I know.  That’s why they’re fun.”  She watched for a second as Faith pulled the robes over her head, “I’ll see you later.”

“Don’t think I won’t collect on that throne room promise, love.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it.”

* * *

Sylvanas walked through the shadows of her city, making sure she wasn’t followed.  Nobody would have been able to see her anyway, she was too good at hiding when she wanted to.

But even if someone _had_ followed her, it would have been disappointing.  She wasn't on any nefarious errands that day.  Her skin tingled, though.  She was excited.

The troll woman had told her that it wouldn’t be a problem, that some of her dark rangers had had the same thing done, and that it had turned out beautifully.  Vorel had been the first one, and even now, four years later, it looked as fresh as the first day, thanks to a fine bit of magic Faith had come up with along with some dragon mages.

She pushed the door of the small shop open, immediately smelling the rich aroma of ink.

She had never fully understood what had possessed Faith to get a tattoo of her initials on her back.  Not until Faith herself had branded her with her own initial.

The scar had begun to fade, and Sylvanas found that she didn’t want it to.  She liked it exactly where it was.

“Be you ready for a little pain?”

Sylvanas smirked and pulled down her leggings, exposing her thigh, “A little pain has never bothered me.”

“You might feel different once I start.  Your rangers all screamed, because I have to use a special ink to pigment your undead skin.  You still want one on both legs?”

She nodded, “I do.”

“Let’s begin.”

* * *

Nobody had seen Sylvanas for hours.  Faith would have been mildly worried about it had she not known in her heart that everything was all right.

She went over various matters with the members of Undercity, looking at the possibility of flying skeletal horses and speaking to Rotvine and other breeders about replenishing the bat roosts that had been decimated by the Plague during Garrosh’s trial.

The last person had just left the Royal Quarter when Sylvanas walked in, wearing long corset robes instead of her customary leggings and tunic.  Faith gracefully rose from the chair of bones and went to meet her, shamelessly running her eyes over her lover’s figure.

“You bought a new dress,” she whispered, running her hand over the black material that slipped like water beneath her fingers.  “Is that what you were doing all day?”

Sylvanas shook her head.  She moved the material of the robes a little, revealing a slit in the side and briefly exposing her thigh.

Faith froze.

“Sylvanas.”

She knelt, touching Sylvanas’ leg to reveal the tattoo around her thigh.

It was exquisite work, something Faith had never seen on anybody before.  A piece of art so sexy that her mouth actually watered at the sight.

A lace garter, rendered in intricate detail, had been etched into her skin.  Made of black lace, with little shadows making it almost appear real, it had a slim red bow seemingly woven through it, tied in the shape of a fine F on the outside of her leg.

“Sylvanas Windrunner.”

Sylvanas cleared her throat, “I got a second one too.”

“You got _two_?”

“I got two.”

Faith wanted to kiss them, to run her tongue over them, knowing how sensitive the skin was there.  “Are they… are they healed?”

She nodded, “I made sure they were before coming back to you.  You can touch them if you’d like.”

Touch them.

“You want me to touch you?”

“I always want your touch on my skin.  I want your lips on mine, and right now, I want your tongue on my new ink.”

Heat rose between them so fast it was as though they had both been dipped in lava.  Sylvanas closed her eyes as Faith murmured a spell so that her robes fell from her body, leaving her exposed.  She hissed softly when she felt Faith’s fingers over her thighs, the touch feather-light, turning her on more than she would have ever cared to admit.

Faith kissed the tattoo right on the bow in the shape of her initial, feeling the magic that imbued the ink on her lips.  Tingling.

“They’re beautiful,” she whispered, looking up at her and feeling oddly emotional.

Sylvanas put a hand on her face, stroking her cheek gently with her thumb, “We’re in each other’s hearts.  You tattooed my initial on your body, and I wanted yours on mine too.”

“I… I don’t know what to say.”

A smile softened Sylvanas’ features, “A declaration of love is standard at this point,” she said gently, helping Faith rise.

“Well… you already know that I’m in love with you.”  Faith looked at her, “I love you.”  She touched her forehead to Sylvanas’, “I love you.”

“I love you.”

They made love right where they were, sinking to the throne room floor.  It was slow, sensual, the melding of two broken souls made whole by their love.  Neither of them could stop.  Neither of them _wanted_ to stop.

They cried.

* * *

It seemed as though life had completely gone back to normal.  The Intercity Market between Silvermoon and Undercity opened again, having been put on hiatus while most people worried about other matters.  Traders from Quel’Thalas came to Lordaeron to sell their goods, from fine silks to hawkstrider feather quills, and getting the latest poisons and alchemy recipes in return.

Sylvanas, for her part, was busy packing a bag for both herself and Faith.  Things were so quiet that she felt that the city could take care of itself for a few days, with Rotvine in charge.

“Why don’t you want to tell me where you’re taking me?” Faith asked her.

“Because it’s a surprise.”

“You’re taking me on holiday just like that?”

“I think that the both of us deserve some time off, don’t you?”

“You certainly do,” said Faith.

A smile, “And so do you.  You’re the one who’s done the most work out of the two of us over the past few years.”

“I wouldn’t say that.  I mean, you’ve been busy running so many battles.  If you were alive, you would have collapsed half a dozen times from exhaustion.”

“Yeah, that’s why I need a break, and I want to take that break with you.”  Sylvanas kissed her, “Now, stop complaining and help me pack, will you?”

Faith rolled her eyes, “You know, it might be easier if you told me where you were taking me, so that I’d know what to bring.”

Sylvanas looked at her, “Well, you won’t be needing clothes, I can promise you that.”

“You just packed three of my favorite outfits.”

“That’s because I want to be able to peel the clothes off you.”  Her eyes locked with Faith’s, “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I trust you.”

“Then trust me to keep you happy.”  She closed the bag and got to her feet, her knees creaking like rusty door joints as she did so.

“You know, I have something that can help with your knees,” Faith told her.

“You can’t change the fact that I’m dead, love.”

“No, but I do have a salve that I use.”  She went to one of the bookshelves and took down a pot, her hand casually brushing over an old picture of Sylvanas.  It was the same picture Faith had had with her when the Scourge had attacked Everstone Village, and, looking at it, she smiled slightly.  “Take a seat, and pull down your leggings.”

“Goodness, Faith, you don’t ask much, do you?”  Sylvanas sounded amused, but nevertheless complied with her lover’s request, pulling her leggings down and exposing her legs.  “What is that?”

“You’re not the only one who’s been doing experiments.  Only I haven’t been using necromancy with this, just natural remedies and a bit of magic.”  She took the lid off the pot, revealing a fragrant cream that was pale brown in color.

Sylvanas recognized the smell of freshly cut goldthorn, an herb she had very little use for.  She said nothing as Faith kneeled, dipping her fingers in the cream and beginning to rub it into Sylvanas’ right knee.  She murmured a small spell as she did so in order for her skin to absorb it, and the area glowed momentarily white with magic.

“It takes some time to work on the undead, but the magic within the salve will activate in a few minutes.  Your knees won’t crack as much, and unless I’m very much mistaken, the pain will practically disappear.”

It always amazed Sylvanas how much Faith had contributed to the Forsaken’s well-being.  “What would we do without you?” she asked softly.

“Oh, suffer endlessly, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, I think we would.  We wouldn’t be here without you, honey.”

“Are you kidding me?  You brought the Forsaken together once you freed yourselves from the Scourge.”

“But you held us together.  In many ways, you made our lives worth living.  I…” Sylvanas was suddenly shy, conscious of the fact that the words she was about to speak held more meaning than they ever had before, “I love you, Faith.”

Faith didn’t say anything for a moment, busy anointing Sylvanas’ other knee with salve.  Her body felt numb, and not in a bad way.  Finally, she put the salve down, and looked up, “I love you, Sylvanas.  You know I did everything here for you.  I mean, I did it because I love the Forsaken, but mostly because I love you, more than I could ever express.”  She leaned forward at the same time Sylvanas did, and their lips caught in a sensual kiss.

“Mmm, that’s always good,” said Sylvanas in a low voice.

“It is,” agreed Faith.  “So, are we ready to go?”

A nod, “We are, yes.”

Sylvanas smiled at her, and a few minutes later, the two of them were in the portal room, stepping through a swirling vortex of magical energy.

They landed on soft green grass, the salty smell of the sea washing over them the second they arrived.  It was the kind of smell Faith would have breathed in, as it reminded her so strongly of the times she had spent at Windrunner Spire.  Around them were trees she knew, the red-flamed boughs of Eversong Woods.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“Sunfall Shore,” answered Sylvanas.  “It’s a stretch of land a few miles outside of Silvermoon Port.”

“It’s beautiful,” said Faith, looking around.  Flowers were everywhere, dotting the grass with white, yellow, and violet blossoms, and white lop-eared rabbits hopped around, well away from them.  She smiled, nodding to them, “Remember how you snuggled a gray bunny on the beach one day?”

“I did no such thing,” Sylvanas told her, trying to sound affronted but merely managing to sound amused.  She shrugged, “It was cute.”

“They used to eat out of your hand.”  She burst into laughter, remembering suddenly how she’d been startled when eating bits of raw carrot on a picnic and no less than four rabbits had hopped over to her, wanting a bite.

“I was more of a friend to nature back then.  Creatures still eat out of my hand now, though.”

“Yeah, rabid bats, maybe.”

Sylvanas chuckled, putting an arm around her and kissing her temple, “Come on, the house is right behind us.”

The house, built in the traditional rounded elven style, was two stories high and made of red and white marble which had been smoothed by the sea winds.

“Alone at last,” said the queen as she closed the door behind them.

“Nobody to bother us,” said Faith, dropping her bag where she stood and taking a few steps closer to her lover until their bodies touched.

“Just you and me, here for a week.  Oh, I’m going to ravage you, my sweet.  It’s going to be delicious, and you’re going to cry out my name so loudly the birds outside will take wing.  Where would you like us to start?”

“More kissing, less talking.”

“Your wish is my…” Sylvanas’ voice trailed off as Faith kissed her deeply, immediately parting her lips with her tongue as their hands found each other, fingers lacing together tightly.  Faith pushed her against the door, beginning to pull her leggings down.

They had all the time in the world, but Faith knew what she wanted.  The taste of Sylvanas’ release on her tongue.  The taste of her flesh, the sound of her cries, and the feel of her fingers in her hair.

Sylvanas climaxed once, twice, nearly collapsing the second time, a scream wrenched from her throat when Faith surprised her with her fingers.

“Oh!  Oh, _Faith_ …”

Faith smiled, “You liked that, I think,” she said, her voice sultry.

“Every god in the world knows I loved that.”  Her knees shook, and she suddenly sagged against the door, sinking to the ground.  Faith took the opportunity to curl up in her lap, and for a moment, neither of them moved much, simply enjoying the feel of being together.

* * *

Their week alone went by much faster than either of them had anticipated.  They spent hours making love on the sand, with the warm waters of the sea washing over them during their last night in Quel’Thalas.  Wrapped around each other and murmuring sensual words of love, they kept going until the sun began to rise on the horizon.

“Why is it that our time together goes by so fast, but everything slows down when we’re apart?” wondered Faith as they lay there, watching the sky turn from a dark blue to a pale gold.

“Because it’s always been that way.”  Sylvanas kissed her, knowing she had to get up and get ready to go back to Undercity, but completely disinclined to release her lover.  She stretched, “I can still feel you inside me,” she whispered.

“Oh… Sylvanas don’t get me started again, my love.  I’ve lost track of how many times you made me orgasm over the past week.”

A chuckle, “Well, there was no reason for us to stop.”

Faith smiled, brushing damp hair off Sylvanas’ face, “Every day I lose myself in your love, Sylvanas.”

“And every day, I love you more.”  She kissed her, “You are my everything, Faith.  My everything.”

Feeling her eyes becoming itchy with unshed tears, Faith tried to avert her gaze, but Sylvanas put a hand on her face.

“Look at me.”

“I can’t…”

“Faith, your emotions have been flayed open in front of me more times than I can count.  There is nothing you and I don’t know about each other.  _Look at me._ ”

Their eyes locked.

“I love you.”

A dusty tear fell from Faith’s right eye, “I love you.”

Sylvanas leaned close and caught the tear with her lips, “Do you want to take another moment before we go home?”

Faith gave a nod, buying her face in Sylvanas’ neck.  “I don’t want to leave you.  Ever.”

“I know, love.  I never want to leave you either.  The good news is that we’re not at war with anybody right now, so we can stay together for quite some time.”

“But how long before something separates us again?”

“Hey.  Nothing’s going to separate us.  Death couldn’t.”  She held Faith tighter, closing her eyes against her own emotions, which threatened to rise to the surface.  “Nothing’s going to separate us,” she said again.

They left Sunfall Shore an hour later, when the sun had fully risen.  Landing back in Undercity, they stayed close together, holding hands and refusing to be separated.

Rotvine found them in their chambers, dressing each other in such a way that would have made him blush had he been alive.

“My ladies,” he said.  “I’m so sorry to disturb you while you’re busy adjusting each other’s clothing…”

Sylvanas gently released Faith’s breast, taking her hand again, “What is it, Carrick?”

“The warchief would like to see you.  Apparently it is a matter of some urgency.  There’s a portal to Orgrimmar waiting for you both.”

A sense of dread came over Faith, whose eyes widened suddenly with fear.  “What happened?”

He shook his head, “I don’t know.  I was just told that the warchief wanted to talk to you.”

Sylvanas adjusted her tunic before putting on her shoulder pads.  Next to her, Faith did the same, and a few minutes later, the two of them found themselves in Grommash Hold in Orgrimmar, along with the other leaders of the Horde.

Vol’jin sat on the throne, looking grave.  “A few minutes ago, Master Khadgar came to see me.”  He paused, his eyes touching each of theirs in turn.  “The Burning Legion be invading Azeroth again.”


	38. Chapter 38

** Author’s Note: **

This is the last update before Battle For Azeroth drops.  I’m not sure when I’ll be able to update next, because I’m going to be busy for the rest of the week, so I hope you enjoy it – both the update and BFA!

FOR THE HORDE!

Lunarelle

* * *

_The Burning Legion be invading Azeroth._

The words rang in Faith’s mind, numbing her from the outside in.  She stared at Vol’jin, unable to believe the phrase he had uttered.

The Burning Legion was invading Azeroth.  Again.

She couldn’t think.  Couldn’t feel. 

The Burning Legion was invading Azeroth again.

“No,” she said, surprising everyone.  “No!”

“Faith –.”

“No!  This _cannot_ happen again!” she cried.  She stared at each leader in turn, and Sylvanas was shocked to see her eyes looking wide and scared.  She was terrified.  “The last time the Burning Legion invaded us, _they created the Scourge_!  We can’t… I mean…”

Sylvanas leapt to her, wrapping her arms around her tightly.  “Shh, baby.  It’s okay.  Everything’s okay.”

“It’s _not_!  I’m not losing you again!”

“You’re not losing me, stop freaking out.”  She looked at Vol’jin, wanting to apologize for Faith’s outburst, but the look she saw on his face was enough to change her mind.  He was just as scared as Faith was.

And so was she.  When she thought about it, she felt that she was, for the first time in a long time, absolutely petrified.  The thought of the Burning Legion invading them again was the stuff of nightmares.

Swallowing whatever she was feeling, she forcibly took Faith’s face in her hands, and kissed her, her tongue inside Faith’s mouth, taking full control.  Faith went rigid in her arms for a second before she calmed down enough to kiss her back.

“Better?” she asked, pulling away.

Faith nodded, now looking unsteady instead of panicked.  “What was that?”

“My way of calming the panic that took a hold of you.”

“I should panic more often,” she whispered.

Several people chuckled.  “I think we could all use a healthy dose of whatever that was,” said Lor’themar, looking interestedly at a pelt on the wall.

Sylvanas arched an eyebrow at him, “Are you asking me to make out with you?  Because I don’t think you’d enjoy that, being as I’m dead and all.”

Baine snorted, “Faith enjoyed it when she was alive.”

With a smile, Sylvanas looked down into Faith’s face for a moment, “Faith is a little… biased when it comes to me.”

“Just a little biased?” asked Lor’themar, sounding amused.  “Honestly, Faith, she must have tasted dead to you.  How could you…”

“You ought to know by now that nothing about Sylvanas ever turned me off,” she shrugged.  “I loved her, and I wasn’t going to let her death come between us.  That’s really all you need to know.”

“Not even my feet turned her off when we were alive, and sometimes, they should have.”

“You always had beautiful feet,” said Faith, and she sounded so sincere that nobody dared laugh at her statement.

They were quiet for a bit.  Finally, Faith looked at Vol’jin, licking her lips.

“Where is the invasion point?” asked Sylvanas.

“Da Tomb of Sargeras.”

“That would indeed be the most logical place for them to invade,” said Baine, shaking his head.

“History’s repeating itself,” said Sylvanas, releasing Faith to step closer to one of the maps on the wall.

“What do you mean?”

Sylvanas glanced at Gallywix, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Gul’dan do this once before?”

“He tried,” said Faith.  “But was killed in the attempt.”

“And now he’s succeeded.”  She faced them, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms, “What do you want to do, Warchief?”

“Well, we cannot just let dem invade us,” said Vol’jin.  He turned his gaze towards Faith, “Commander, I want you to liaise with da Alliance.  We will need to work with dem on dis.”

Faith nodded.

“Sylvanas, Undercity is closest to da invasion point, so we will probably launch a counterattack from Tirisfal.”

“I’ll make sure to have airships ready to go.  Faith, how many Magi Corps troops have we got?”

“We’ll have to recruit: we lost a few on Draenor.”

“We’ll be all right,” she said, her gaze not encountering anybody else’s.  For she knew… she knew…

She had done several things while Faith had been away on Draenor, and one of them was a secret, one so dark that she hadn’t even told Nathanos about it.

There were new recruits in Tirisfal Glades.

Located in the Agamand Mills were over five hundred Forsaken that had come from the Scarlet Monastery.  Most from the cemeteries located on the grounds, while others had been… fresher.  For months, they had trained as mages, warlocks, priests, and archers, honing their new gifts so as to be ready when the time came.

The time was now.

* * *

They left Orgrimmar immediately, taking a portal back to Lordaeron.  Sylvanas waited until Lor’themar and Halduron had used the Orb of Translocation to get back to Silvermoon before she turned to Faith, taking her hand to keep her from going into Undercity.

“Before you go to the Alliance, my love, there’s something I need to tell you.”  She paused, looking at her carefully.  “You won’t like it, but I need you to keep an open mind about this.”

Faith nodded, her eyes on her lover’s, “What is it?”

“Maybe I’d better show you.  Come on.  I keep a permanent portal open to that location.”  She led Faith to a hidden area behind the stables, where a couple of low-level mages were playing a dice game while occasionally checking on the swirling vortex next to them.  The two of them leapt to their feet when they saw Faith and Sylvanas approaching, saluting them both.

“Is this how you stand guard in front of a portal?”  Faith asked them, not waiting for Sylvanas to speak, “By playing _games_?  If you’re bored, we could replace you with more competent mages who will do their job as instructed.”

They bowed to her, “Apologies, Commander Everstone.  This was just something to pass the time.”

Sylvanas cleared her throat, “You should rotate your positions more often,” she said.  “I will speak to your officer about that.”  She glanced at Faith and indicated the portal, “After you.”

Faith stepped through and frowned, surprised to see herself in the Agamand Mills.  She waited for Sylvanas to appear next to her before raising her eyebrow, “Who are these two?  I don’t recall having ever seen them before.”

“You haven’t seen them before, no.  They belong to the unit stationed here.”

“The _unit_?  What unit?  We don’t have a unit… Sylvanas, what did you do?”

“Remember how I told you to keep an open mind?”

Faith just looked at her.

“While I was looking for ways to send reinforcements to you on Draenor for the Battle of Shattrath City, I came to the conclusion that we simply didn’t have enough people.  It’s nobody’s fault, really, it’s just how it is: we’re dying out.  We used to have more than fifteen thousand people in Undercity.  Now, we have less than ten thousand.  Not just in the city, I mean.  Spread out throughout Lordaeron, Orgrimmar, and Thunder Bluff.”

“I know, Sylvanas.  You know, we try to be careful, but –.”

“I do know.  And the time came for me to do something about it.”

A sense of dread came over Faith, “What exactly did you do?”

Sylvanas looked towards the Scarlet Monastery, whose outline was only just visible in the mist.

“Oh, Sylvanas…” Faith just sounded sad.  “You attacked the Scarlet Crusade?”

“There aren’t many of them left, to be honest, and the few that were didn’t bother to burn their dead.”

It had been inevitable.  Faith had known that Sylvanas would decide to turn the few remaining humans in Lordaeron into Forsaken: the temptation was too great.  Still, it was a blow.  “How many did you raise?”

“Over here.”  She walked a short way from the portal, climbing up a hill.

A camp stretched out in front of them, with tents and several practice ranges.  It looked like a small canvas village, not unlike areas Faith had seen in Northrend during battle conditions.

“There must be hundreds of them…” she whispered.

“Five hundred and nineteen, at last count,” agreed Sylvanas.  “They’re all trained.”

“I don’t doubt that they are.  And knowing you, these aren’t the only new recruits you have.”

Sylvanas said nothing at first, merely looking directly into Faith’s eyes to gage her reaction.  After a while, she nodded, “There are a few more.”

“Where?”

“It’s funny how I remember you giving specific orders to people about burning bodies while you were working with the Argent Dawn, and later the Argent Crusade.”

“How is that funny?”

“It’s funny because they didn’t listen to you.  Not all of them, anyway.”

“Where?”

“Beneath Archerus.  The Ebon Blade apparently didn’t raise all the corpses there, so I managed to get another eighty of them from there.”

Faith gave a nod, running a hand over her eyes the way she usually did when she got a headache, “And where else?”

“Northrend.  Specifically, Icecrown.”

“There are still bodies to be raised in Icecrown?”

“Oh yes.  As I said, not everybody listened to you when you gave orders to dig up every grave and burn the corpses.  And as it happened, the Scarlet Onslaught had quite a few bodies buried in several catacombs at the Onslaught Harbor.”

“Onslaught Harbor,” repeated Faith.  “The island just off the western coast of Icecrown?”

“Precisely.”

Faith didn’t want to know just how many people Sylvanas had raised from that island, or even how she had managed to accomplish such a thing.  But she remembered from several reports that there had been nearly one thousand members of the Scarlet Onslaught on that island.

“How many new recruits do you have altogether, Sylvanas?”

“About two thousand.”

With a groan, Faith turned away from her lover.  Two thousand.  Sylvanas had raised two thousand corpses in a few months in order to replenish her ranks.  Shudders threatened to run through her, but she forced herself to remain still.  “And let me guess, you’re finding new graveyards every day in Northrend to raid for corpses.”

“You’d be surprised how many of them have a relatively intact brain, even after all this time.  We also found a group belonging to the Cult of the Damned, if you’ll believe that.”

“You found living members of the _Cult of the Damned_?  Now?”  Outrage colored Faith’s voice, making her eyes flash a reddish-orange.  “ _Where_?”

“In an unexpected area of Sholazar Basin.  They had a very nice setup there, I have to say, so we kept them there.  They were only recently raised, so I’m not counting them in the two thousand we have available to us.”

“Well, congratulations, Sylvanas, you’ve managed to replenish the ranks of the Forsaken very well, considering the shortage of bodies we’ve had as of late.”  She shook her head, wanting to scream, but knowing that it would do absolutely no good.

“I know you’re mad at me.”

Faith started to laugh humorlessly, “You raided graveyards to raise the dead just like some common necromancer.  I also suspect that you killed people at the Scarlet Monastery, but I won’t get into that.”  She was shaking with anger.  “Will you give me a moment?”

“Certainly.  I’ll wait for you back in Undercity.”

“You do that.”

It took Faith the better part of an hour to calm herself down.  Her instincts were telling her to kill every new recruit she was seeing, but quite apart from the challenge that represented in terms of sheer numbers, she knew that she’d never be able to do that to Sylvanas.  These were her people now, no matter where they had come from.

She spoke to a few of them, learning their names and what they remembered from their previous life.  Most of them seemed all right, not missing their old lives, but those who did were glad to be with the people they had known while they’d been with the Scarlet Crusade.

“I’m sorry this happened to you,” she told them.

“There’s no need to be,” said one of the archers, whose name was Travers.  “We knew that this would be a possibility when we ended up here.”

“When you ended up here?” asked Faith.  “What do you mean?”

“Well, for me personally, being sent to the Scarlet Monastery wasn’t my choice.”  He looked around, “You see, I did some… unsavory things in my youth.”

Faith nodded.  She’d heard of such things happening before with members of rich families.  It was preferable to send misguided teenagers to a monastery for a few years to learn discipline rather than to lock them in jail, where they would have hardly been able to do anything but sit and wait.  “People who aren’t as well-off tend to send their misbehaved children to the military, though, not to monasteries.”

Travers shrugged, “My parents elected to send me here, and I liked it so much I stayed.”

“How long were you there for?”

“Five years.”

“Welcome to the Horde, then, soldier,” she told him quietly.  “Feel free to let me know if you or your friends ever need anything, or if you have questions.”

“Thank you, Commander, it’s much appreciated.”

Faith nodded again, then took the portal back to Undercity and nearly landed on top of Sylvanas, who had been waiting there for her.

Not ready to talk to her about the way she was feeling, she made to walk away, but Sylvanas held on to her.

“What are you thinking?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

“I do.  Talk to me.”

“Like you talked to me about what you were doing?  While I was fighting to keep killers from invading us again, you went ahead and raised corpses, Sylvanas!  Every day I see you become more and more like the butcher who killed you, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“There’s nothing you have to do, Faith.  I’m not doing this because it’s fun for me, I’m doing it because I have to.”

“Because you have to?”

Sylvanas made an exasperated sound, “We can’t go into another war like this, and you know it!”  She gripped Faith’s wrist tighter, “What will you have me do exactly?  Will you have me take Undercity’s citizens, the ones who have never once lifted a blade, and force them to fight?  You want me to turn them into cannon fodder like Garrosh did?”

Faith looked down at her wrist, then back up at Sylvanas, arching an eyebrow, “You wanna relax your grip on me a little, love?”

A slow blink.  Sylvanas loosened her hold only slightly, but didn’t release her.

Faith flexed her fingers and moved her hand until it lay more naturally in Sylvanas’.  “Look, you and I are never going to see eye to eye when it comes to you raising corpses, and you’re angry with me about it.”  She shook her head, “Why did you even tell me about it?”

“Because I think we should be honest with each other.”

A nod, “I appreciate that.  But Sylvanas… please don’t turn into Arthas.  I won’t be able to follow you if you go that way.”

“I’m not turning into Arthas.  I haven’t destroyed an entire nation just to raise everyone into undeath for my purposes.”

Faith smiled a little.  “Not yet, you haven’t.”

Sylvanas smiled back, taking a step closer to her and kissing her forehead, “How angry with me are you?”

“I don’t like knowing that you’re raising corpses, Sylvanas.”

“You’ll note that I didn’t raise any members of the Alliance.”

“So noted.”  Faith shook her head, “I guess that, considering the present circumstances, I should be grateful that you replenished our ranks.”

But she wasn’t happy about it, not by a long shot.  In point of fact, she felt almost betrayed by what Sylvanas had done.  Part of her knew that it had been necessary, but she couldn’t help but think back to the way she had felt when she’d first heard about the Plague of Undeath devastating Lordaeron all those years ago.

“Are you coming?”

Faith looked up to find that Sylvanas was a few paces away, clearly making her way back into the city.  “Yeah, love.  What will you tell everyone?”

“The truth.”

It wasn’t easy.  Forsaken didn’t generally show much emotion on their faces, but when Sylvanas told them about the Burning Legion, there was only one expression visible on each person’s face: shock.

They got to work immediately, getting supplies out of hidden corners of Undercity and getting them ready to go.

“Say what you will about the Forsaken,” whispered Faith as she put on her black and white outfit, “they sure know how to prepare for a war.”  She glanced at Sylvanas, “You’ve taught them well.”

Sylvanas didn’t smile, merely fastening a long white cloak to Faith’s shoulderpads, “They all remember what happened the last time the Legion invaded us, same as you.”

A nod.  “I’ll be back soon.”

“How are you getting to Stormwind?”

“I’m going to Dalaran first, then I’ll take a portal from there to the Alliance capital.  I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Be careful.”  Sylvanas kissed her lips softly.

Faith landed in Dalaran a few minutes later.  She hadn’t been to the magical city in such a long time that part of her had expected to see it completely changed.

But Dalaran looked exactly as she remembered it, with magic crackling through the air, almost welcoming her back.

Except that the city guards appeared to be a lot more harried than she’d ever remembered them being, even when the Scourge had been at its most active.

“Faith Everstone?”

Faith turned, blinking once.  “Lady Proudmoore.”

Jaina stood there, looking taller than Faith remembered, and wearing white and blue robes that flowed from her body like wind and water combined.

“What are you doing here?”

"Warchief Vol’jin asked me to liaise with the Alliance with regards to the Burning Legion’s invasion, so I was hoping that someone here would help me get there.”

“Couldn’t you just teleport to Elwynn Forest?  You’ve been there before, haven’t you?”

“I have, but being as I’ve no desire to be attacked by three dozen guards, I thought it safer to come here.”

“Good choice.  I can make you a portal if you’d –.”

“Aunt Faith!”

Faith barely had the time to turn her head before two red-haired children ran to her, nearly barreling her over.  Vereesa was a little behind them, walking towards her.

“I thought that was you!” she exclaimed, reaching her and hugging her.  “What in the world are you doing here?”

“I’m on my way to Stormwind.  Vol’jin wants me to talk to Varian and coordinate some efforts between the Horde and the Alliance.  I wish I could stay longer.”  She knelt and hugged the twins, “I’ll come back to visit when I can, okay?”

They nodded, kissing her cheek.

“Be safe, you guys.”

“I will make a portal to Stormwind for you,” said Jaina to her.  “But the Alliance will not work with the Horde, I can promise you that.”

Faith glanced at her, “I appreciate the portal, Lady Proudmoore.  And I hope that the Alliance will be able to work with the Horde, because this is potentially the biggest threat to our world we have ever seen.  You will remember what happened the last time the Burning Legion invaded us.”

The look on Jaina’s face turned ugly, “I don’t need you to remind me of that.”

“Good, then we understand each other.  This isn’t the time for this inter-faction conflict, Jaina, it’s time to be united against a particular enemy.  The Burning Legion will annihilate us if we don’t act quickly.”

She said nothing, instead creating the portal to Stormwind.  The ugly look never left her face, though, and Faith wondered whether things were going to go any better with other leaders of the Alliance.

Part of her doubted that.


	39. Chapter 39

**Author's Note** :

Oh, Battle For Azeroth, how busy you have kept me! Sorry about that, everyone, but I suspect you were just as busy as I was! I've levelled both a Horde and Alliance character to 120. I love it. What do you all think about this expansion so far?

As for this chapter, it brings us exactly one expansion behind! I hope you enjoy it!

Lunarelle

* * *

Guards stood there, their weapons pointed directly at her chest. They knew who she was, of that she had absolutely no doubt, and she was also certain that they wouldn't let her pass, no matter what she said to them.

"Forsaken stench isn't welcome here," said one of them, wrinkling his nose. He had an uneven golden goatee and piercing blue eyes. His muscles bulged beneath his plate armor.

"Especially not the ones who whore themselves out to the banshee witch."

She smiled.  _Came up with that insult all by yourself, did you, lad?_

"You have every right to forbid members of the Horde from entering your city," she said. "You're fine guards. But even Sylvanas would observe the rules of the white flag, especially in these circumstances. Or perhaps you would like to tell your king that negotiations about how to deal with the Burning Legion fell through because of your refusal to let the Horde ambassador pass." She transferred the white flag she was holding from her right shoulder to her left.

One of the guards paled considerably. Another one turned her head towards one of her companions and whispered something to him. There were nods.

"You're here to see the king?"

Faith nodded, "As I explained the moment I stepped through the portal, I'm here to talk to King Varian about the Burning Legion invasion, as ordered by Warchief Vol'jin."

"Check her for weapons."

She didn't object as one of the younger male guards walked to her and ran his hands over her, making sure she had no weapon concealed. Despite the scowl on his face, he was a gentleman, not touching her anywhere he shouldn't. "She's clear," he said.

"Are you sure? You didn't check her properly."

"I… I'm not going to touch her  _there_ , Arthur, she's a  _woman_!"

Arthur, the guard with the uneven goatee, chuckled heartily, "That's no woman, Cooper. She's dead." He took a step forward, but Cooper stood resolutely in front of her, his hand on the pommel of his sword. The other guards shifted uncomfortably.

"By all means," said Faith quietly, "argue about this. I'll remind you that the longer we delay this, the more demons will pass through the open gateway at the Tomb of Sargeras."

Arthur glared at her, an evil glint in his eye, "Bind her hands, and take that flag away from her.  _Now_!"

Faith forced herself not to roll her eyes, and handed the flag to Cooper, who took it from her with a blush on his cheeks. She nodded to him and kept her wrists together behind her back so that magical rope could be wound around them.

"Arthur's from Theramore," said Cooper to her quietly. "I'm sorry."

A nod, "Understood."

Arthur smirked, "Take her to the Stockades."

The prison? Faith very nearly grinned. Oh, Sylvanas was going to kill them for this.

"You can't!" gasped the female guard. "She was carrying a white flag and asked to see the king!"

Arthur threw a lit match at the white cloth, which ignited immediately, causing Cooper to drop it in surprise. "White flag? I don't see a white flag, do you? All I see is a Forsaken bitch who dared come into our lands. Take her away."

They marched her through the gates of the city. Faith barely had the time to glimpse at the statue that had been erected of Alleria Windrunner before she was led to the right, down a paved slope that led to a body of water. She was shoved into one of three rowboats, and before she knew it, they were underway.

"You seem supremely unconcerned with what's happening to you, rotter."

Faith didn't bother acknowledging Arthur's statement. She forced herself not to smile, although all she wanted to do was laugh.

Instead, she looked around, noticing that they were headed towards a grated opening on the side of a building. Did they think this was going to scare her?

"Most people beg for mercy when we take them through here. It's the city sewers. There are rats, spiders, and maggots."

She couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her, "I live in  _Undercity_."

"You should feel right at home then."

The sewers were very dark, with only a few torches lighting the way. It was a maze, though, probably to discourage anybody from entering it. Faith's night vision being what it was, however, she was able to clearly see what was along the walls. Chained skeletons and dark spells coated some areas like murals, not unlike what she had seen when she'd fought the Cult of the Damned in Northrend. She vaguely remembered having heard of some insurrections within Stormwind that had been quelled by some adventurers, but she hadn't realized it had gone as far as that.

The passage they were in began to lighten, and finally they emerged through another grate, which opened by magic at their arrival, and closed the second they'd gotten through.

The Stockades.

* * *

" _What_?"

Sylvanas' scream echoed throughout the royal quarter of Undercity, sending rats running for cover.

Rotvine looked her directly in the eye, as though staring down an enraged beast. "Our scouts in Elwynn Forest are certain of what they saw and heard, Your Majesty. Faith has been taken to the Stockades. The white flag she was carrying was burned."

"You are telling me that the Stormwind guards arrested the Horde ambassador to the Alliance while she was carrying a white flag."

A nod, "That's right." He held up a hand before Sylvanas could scream again, "I've already sent several people to Hearthglen to mention this to people there. I'm sure Lord Tirion Fordring will sort everything out."

"That's nice, and what if that doesn't work?"

"There's no reason why it shouldn't."

"There was no reason for Faith to be arrested, and yet she's now in the Stormwind prison!"

"And what would you like to do about it, exactly? You can't attack Stormwind, you know it."

The glare Sylvanas gave him would have terrified Arthas himself, but she knew he was right. "If she's not out of there by tonight, I'm declaring war on Varian."

"Over a few overzealous guards? Surely you jest, Your Majesty."

"If he keeps her locked up for no reason, you can bet I'm going to do something about it."

"Lord Tirion is on it."

Sylvanas shook her head, "I'm sure he's got better things to do than to worry about Faith."

"Give it some time. If this doesn't work, you can send word to your sister, and she'll go to Stormwind herself. You have nothing to worry about."

Looking incredulous, Sylvanas merely took a seat on her chair of bones, running a hand over her eyes. She may not have looked it, but she was so worried about Faith that part of her wanted to cry.

_Why did I let you go?_

* * *

The cell Faith had been placed in was relatively comfortable. A low bed was in the corner, covered by a thin blanket, next to which was a small wooden desk and a chair. It was certainly more than the prison cells in Undercity, which had spells on them to increase depression. Faith wasn't about to forget her trip there in a hurry.

She sat on the bed, listening to the sound the other prisoners were making. From what she'd ascertained, there were several detainees there from the Defias Brotherhood, a band of thugs that had been stationed in Westfall, but had been thinned out.

Others were there as well, she had seen. An old woman with silver hair. A young man who had glared at her as she'd walked by. A dark-skinned dwarf. She wondered what they had done to deserve a stay in Stormwind's prison.

Letting her hand drop to the floor, she began to trace runes in the dust. They didn't glow, as a spell had been put on the prison to keep its inmates from performing any sort of magic, but they soothed her. Beneath the runes, she traced Sylvanas's name, missing her suddenly.

She heard footsteps outside her cell, but didn't bother looking up from what she was doing.

The door opened.

"Commander Everstone?"

It was King Varian.

Faith got up, "Your Majesty. Have you come to break me out of here, or did you want to tell me that I'll spend eternity in here?"

"The former. I'm sorry for what my guards did to you. They'll be severely punished for it."

"No harm done," said Faith smoothly. "I'm sure they were just being overcautious."

He looked at her, "You're not angry?"

"The Burning Legion is invading Azeroth. Let's just say I have other things to do besides being angry at a guard who wanted to avenge his home."

Varian motioned for her to follow him. "I daresay we have other things to do besides bicker amongst each other."

"Indeed," said Faith. She walked with him in silence through the prison, noticing that several guards accompanied them as well. Finally they walked through a heavily guarded gate and came out into the cool night. Thousands of stars appeared to be out, and she smiled briefly at them.

"I hope that you will not hold a grudge over this," Varian told her.

"Over this, no. I do hope that Sylvanas never finds out which guard decided to burn the flag I was carrying, though, because she'll have him executed."

"I will be writing to her about that myself."

Faith chuckled, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"I have nothing to hide from Sylvanas."

"You're braver than I thought, Your Majesty." She looked around, "You have a beautiful city. It's very… clean."

Varian glanced at her, "Thank you. I suppose that it feels different to you than Undercity."

"It's above ground, so that's new." She smiled a little as a guard stared at her, stunned. "So. How are you all planning on doing this?"

The king sighed, "I don't know. How are we supposed to repel a demonic invasion? Last time it happened…"

"I know, Varian. I lost Sylvanas last time the Burning Legion invaded us. Not to mention the kingdom I grew up in and my whole family." She closed her eyes briefly, "I suppose that the only thing we can do is work together."

"Seems to be the best course of action. I'm guessing that's why your warchief sent you here."

Faith merely nodded as they came to two steeds who were apparently waiting for them. One of them, a horse with a pure white coat, was clearly meant for Varian, while the other… she laughed. "Is that a mechanostrider?"

She had only seen such machines once, in a battle. Technological marvels made to resemble the tallstrider birds she knew from Mulgore and he Northern Barrens, they were favorite steeds of gnomes, who had built them because they had trouble sitting atop horses and nightsabers. Some of the most advanced ones were equipped with weapons.

"I figured it would be easier for you to ride this rather than walk all over the city beside my horse, being as I don't think a living creature will allow you to mount it."

"That is very thoughtful, Your Majesty," she said. "Thank you." She climbed onto the machine, finding that it was about as comfortable as sitting on a skeletal horse, and a moment later, they were off, riding towards Stormwind Keep, the large castle that housed the royal family.

People stared as they went by. All of them bowed respectfully to Varian, something Faith was quick to note. She also noted that he acknowledged his subjects, nodding at them, and sometimes even reaching out to touch them.

"Your people love you," she stated.

He glanced at her, "Don't your people love Sylvanas?"

Faith laughed, "They do, for the most part. But most of them are terrified of her too, which is what she wants."

"But you're not afraid of her."

"Me? No, I think that if I were afraid of her, our relationship would be a bit more complicated."

He shook his head, "Some of us are still having trouble understanding the kind of relationship the two of you have, to be honest."

"Because we're women?"

"No. I guess it's because she is the way she is. You're a decent person, Commander. You care about others. She doesn't."

"I loved her before she turned into a banshee."

"And you can't just turn off your feelings, even though she's a creature that most people would consider repulsive."

"It's more than that. I don't even think I'd be able to explain the way she and I feel about each other. To be honest, some days, I'm still amazed that she loves me."

"You're the only one she loves like that, right?"

Faith laughed, startling Varian's horse, "To my knowledge." She grew serious again, staring ahead, "What people need to understand about her is that she's literally been through hell and back. I realize that everyone who was killed and raised by the Scourge has the same story to tell, but Sylvanas was able to take things a step further and build the Forsaken into what they are today. And despite everything she's endured, she fell in love with me, and she continues to love me."

"And yet she hasn't married you."

"She has not."

"But you're the one who has kept her grounded, so to speak. You've kept her relatively sane. Reminded her that she has a soul and a heart."

"I suppose, so to speak."

"Oh, trust me. Some of us have stayed awake, worrying about what she would be like if you weren't around."

Faith suddenly heard Sylvanas chuckling in her mind, and she chuckled too, "Sylvanas has kept you awake?" she asked. "She'll love that."

"Aye, she's kept us awake on more than one occasion. She'll work with us, though? Against the Burning Legion?"

"You will have the full cooperation of the Horde against the Burning Legion, I can promise you that."

They arrived at Stormwind Keep and dismounted as the guards who had accompanied them watched. The king led her into the castle and into a meeting room, where someone was waiting.

Faith stopped walking, her muscles stiffening.

A huge grey wolf sat by the fire, a goblet in his hand. His head turned to look at her, his mouth turning up in a snarl.

"Good evening, King Greymane," said Faith.

"Commander," growled the worgen. "I trust you enjoyed your stay in the Stockades."

"I've been in worse prisons, thank you." She waited for Varian to sit at the ornate wooden table before doing the same. "Have you made any plans?"

"Has the Horde?"

"We're working on it. To be perfectly honest, the past few years have been difficult for all of us. I'm not ashamed to say that we are not operating at full capacity."

"Neither are we," snarled Greymane. "Your previous warchief had a lot to do with that."

"Which is why he's our  _previous_  warchief." She smiled at him, then turned her gaze to Varian. "Now, I do know that we're planning to go to the Broken Shore to see what we're dealing with. Since Undercity seems to be the closest capital city to the invasion, we will be launching operations from there."

Varian nodded, "That makes sense. All we know is that we'll be launching from Khaz Modan. The dwarves and gnomes are working on our airships as we speak." He produced a map and spread it on the table, "Khadgar wasn't able to get a very accurate picture of the area, so this map is only an estimate."

Faith looked over it, "I suppose we could take two separate sides of the beach and meet up in a central point near the Tomb of Sargeras."

"Are you suggesting we attack the tomb?" asked Greymane.

"Unless you want more demons to invade Azeroth, I don't really see any other option. We have to close that portal."

"How?"

"I have no idea, I just got the news. We used brute strength on Draenor to close the Dark Portal. I don't know what they have in place here, Khadgar wasn't clear."

"I don't think he had a lot of time to look around," said Varian.

A nod, "I wouldn't have stuck around either."

Greymane scratched at his muzzle, "A dual attack makes sense. We can attack the demons from two fronts. They won't know what hit them."

_I agree with the wolf,_  whispered Sylvanas in Faith's mind.  _We can have a first wave attack while others lie in wait. Then, once we figure out what we're up against, we'll send the rest._

Faith relayed Sylvanas' words to the two monarchs, who stared at her.

"What?" she asked.

"She's talking to you?"

"She raised me from the dead. We have a telepathic link."

Greymane snarled, "That's just… wrong."

"No more wrong than the worgen curse, I should say." She pointed to the map, "What say you?"

"It's as good a plan as any," said Varian. "Sylvanas would have the best battle strategy, wouldn't she?"

"Sylvanas has over a century's worth of experience in battle. You'd do well to keep that in mind, even if you hate her." She cleared her throat, "We should keep open lines of communication between the Horde and the Alliance. Since we still seem to have issues trusting each other, let's make things easier and go through the Argent Crusade to carry messages. We can send messages to Hearthglen via mage portal, so that they can be dispatched from there."

Varian inclined his head in acknowledgement, "It's as good a plan as any. I'll have several messengers ready to bring you word as soon as we've finalized our plans."

"Good. We'll do the same on our end." She got up, "Thank you for seeing me."

"Sorry we threw you in jail."

"No harm done. But if I might make a suggestion, you may want to teach your soldiers the meaning of a white flag so that they don't go imprisoning ambassadors coming for peace talks in the future. Especially those belonging to Undercity."

Greymane got to his feet slowly, "Was that a threat?"

A smile, "If I had wanted to threaten you, I would have done so directly. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must return to Orgrimmar and speak to Vol'jin about this." She gave a perfunctory bow, "I leave in peace."

"Good luck."


	40. Chapter 40

It was done. Sylvanas could scarcely believe that she had managed such a feat.

Faith wasn't going to be happy about it when she found out, but for once, the queen didn't care about what her reaction was going to be.

_The Burning Legion is invading_ , she thought.  _This is hardly the time to worry about reactions. I need my people at their strongest._

And that included Nathanos Blightcaller.

He accompanied her now to the throne room to await Faith's return from Orgrimmar. People stared at him, wondering who he was, as the ritual she'd performed had left him quite changed, physically.

More human in appearance, with actual flesh and muscle on his bones. Almost like a human death knight. Definitely stronger than he had been, with orange eyes that glowed darker than Faith's did.

"Ah, Your Majesty. I see that everything worked well?"

Sylvanas looked at the man who had spoken. Master Apothecary Lydon had always been ghastly to look at, but next to Nathanos, he looked particularly decayed.

She nodded, "It did, thank you. Your suggestion did the trick."

"Will you be doing this for every Forsaken, then?"

It was tempting. And had she had more Val'kyr, she would have probably given the thought some serious consideration.

"The ritual nearly depleted the Val'kyr I used. I can't afford to do this more than twice."

"Not to mention that it won't be easy to find living relatives to sacrifice to the cause," added Nathanos, bowing his head.

Sylvanas glanced at him, wondering whether he felt guilty about his cousin having had to die in the ritual. "Doubtless that doing this more than once would bring Stormwind down upon us like a war hammer," she said quietly.

"But you are going to do this for Faith." It wasn't a question.

"I am."

"You've found a relative of hers who was still alive?"

Sylvanas didn't answer. The ritual she had performed on Nathanos had been heinous, she recognized it. It had called for a living relative's very essence, which would leave said person dead, no more than a husk. She had used Nathanos' cousin for his ritual.

But for Faith…

It hadn't been easy to track the girl down, but she had managed to do so. The spitting image of Faith's brother Taegan.

His daughter.

* * *

Returning to Undercity was always soothing for Faith. She had never thought that she would call such a place home, but that was what it was for her now. Home. A place where she could find peace, where her heart rested.

As she stepped out of the portal room, the city's familiar cold came over her, soothing her. Even when she'd been alive, it had soothed her, because it meant seeing Sylvanas and being with her. It was just what she needed to relieve the unbearable tension she felt at the thought of the Burning Legion's new invasion.

She found Sylvanas in the throne room and smiled, happy to see her. She was standing with Lydon and with a well-preserved undead man she'd never seen before, discussing tactics.

"Ah, our Alliance prisoner returns," said Lydon, spotting her. "Are you all right, Commander?"

Faith nodded, "Things could have been worse, thank you for asking."

Sylvanas glanced up from the bit of parchment she'd been poring over with the other man, "What did they say?"

"Oh, they agreed to keep communication open. The warchief has agreed to keep a few messengers in Hearthglen who will carry word back and forth between us and the Alliance. I don't think we can hope for better than that at the moment."

"Good work," she said. "I'm glad you're all right."

"It takes more than a short trip to the Stormwind Stockades to hurt me, Sylvanas." She turned towards the man curiously, meaning to introduce herself to him.

"Nathanos and I were just coming up with additional modifications to make to one of our airships," she said quickly.

"You and Nathanos," repeated Faith.

The man cleared his throat, "Yes, we were just thinking of adding some gun turrets to the sides to give us additional cover."

"I don't know how effective guns will be against…" her voice trailed off abruptly as she stared at the man, "Nathanos?"

"Hello, Commander," he said.

Faith blinked once. A second time. She looked between him and Sylvanas. "What did you do?" she asked the queen.

"Follow me, and I'll explain."

"You will?"

"You sound surprised, Faith."

She was. "You would usually tell me that it doesn't matter and that I should be grateful for whatever might have happened. He certainly looks different."

"Come on." Taking her hand, Sylvanas led her to their office, closing the door behind them and leaning against it, while Faith leaned against the desk, watching her.

"So. What did you do?"

Sylvanas locked eyes with her, "The Burning Legion is invading us." She waited for Faith to nod before continuing. "I need my people to be as strong as possible to face the demons, and I'm hoping that Nathanos will be one of the commanders against them."

A nod, "Okay. So you made him stronger."

"In a manner of speaking, yes. The ritual didn't only change his appearance. His senses are much sharper than they were before. He said he feels much more energy coursing within him."

Faith made a small sound, but didn't say anything. Sylvanas could practically see the thoughts whipping through her mind.

"The ritual I used was… brutal, to say the least. It involved a Val'kyr."

"And who did you have to kill to make this happen?" Faith's voice was low.

"It doesn't matter. The ritual worked on Nathanos, but I can't think about doing it for every Forsaken here."

"Who did you have to kill to make this happen?"

She was going to keep asking until she got an answer. "His cousin," said Sylvanas finally. "I needed a living blood relative."

Faith closed her eyes against a sudden wave of despair. Sylvanas had killed someone to make Nathanos stronger. It didn't surprise her in the slightest. As a matter of fact, she wondered what had made Sylvanas wait so long to do it.

"Say something."

"I'd rather not, lest I start screaming at you."

"If you need to scream at me, go ahead."

"No." She pushed herself away from the desk and took several steps until she reached her lover, "I'd rather tell you that I love you, and give you a kiss, if you don't mind."

"If I don't… come here." Sylvanas pulled her close, kissing her softly. Faith pressed herself even closer, closing her eyes and letting herself go for a moment of bliss. "What's with you? I was expecting a fight."

"I don't want to fight. I want to stay here with you and forget that the rest of the world exists." Faith gave Sylvanas another kiss, "Can't we just… run away and be in love?"

Sylvanas smiled, "We could, and I'd love to, but you know as well as I do that we wouldn't be able to just leave everything. Too much is going on. Besides, what would we do if the Legion found us?"

"Tell them to go away?" asked Faith hopefully.

A chuckle. Sylvanas kissed Faith's forehead, allowing them a few more precious seconds with each other. "We have work to do, love."

"I know."

"You're really not going to say anything about this?"

"What would you like me to say? That I'm disappointed that you continue to do this kind of thing? That I'm worried about you turning into Arthas? That I want you to stop killing to replenish your numbers or make us stronger? You know all of this, Sylvanas, there's no point in my rehashing it every single time."

Sylvanas looked at her. "You know I didn't just do it for Nathanos."

"I know. So I'm going to say this: whatever it is you want to do with this, keep me out of it. I don't want to be involved, and I certainly don't want you to try this out on me."

"It'll make you stronger. Better."

"Better than what? Besides, you said you needed a living blood relative. I don't have any of those."

"We should get back to the others and figure out what our move is going to be against the Legion," said Sylvanas suddenly. "I'm going to want at least five airships to leave from Undercity, so I'd like you to have those ready to go as soon as possible." She released Faith and turned to face the door, her hand on the handle.

"Sylvanas." Faith sounded stricken. "I don't have any living relatives."

Sylvanas couldn't look at her. "Her name is Varelia."

"What?"

"Varelia Sunsilver. Her mother is Amarya Sunsilver."

"And her father?"

A rare sigh. "Taegan. He and Amarya had… I don't know. They spent a night together. She didn't realize she was pregnant until after the fall of Silvermoon."

Nothing. Not a sound.

Sylvanas turned around to see that Faith was frozen, staring at her as though she had never seen her before. Her eyes were unfocused, shocked. "Faith."

Faith's gaze focused on her immediately. "I have a niece?"

"You do."

"When did you find out about her?"

"A couple of months ago. I was in Silvermoon for something, and I saw this girl who looked so much like your brother that I was sure of who she was. I sent someone to check, and got my answer very quickly. All Varelia knows about Taegan is that he was killed by the Scourge. She was told nothing else."

The look on Faith's face turned venomous, "And you wanted to kill her."

"Yes."

The sound of a slap echoed across the room as Faith's hand made contact with Sylvanas' cheek.

"You find out that I have a living family member, and the first thing that goes through your mind is that you want to kill her?! What's the matter with you?"

"There is nothing I wouldn't do to keep you alive and well, Faith. Nothing. I would kill my own sister and nephews if it helped you get stronger!"

"Why? I'm not worth that! Nobody's worth that!"

"You're my everything! I love you, don't you get it? I can't lose you!" Sylvanas let out a curse as dusty tears spilled from her eyes. "I cannot survive without you. I don't even want to think about what my life would be like without you in it!"

"I'm not dying, Sylvanas!"

"But you could! You've already died once, I can't go through that again. I won't."

"Sylvanas. If I die, you're going to find a way to go on without me. You'll move on, and be happy and remember all the times we spent together. It will hurt, yes, but you're going to be fine. I know you, and I believe in you. You'll make it through this. Promise me that you won't give up if something happens to me."

The wild look in Sylvanas' eyes receded a little, "That's my line," she said, wiping at her eyes. "I can't believe you still remember what I said to you that day."

"Word for word." Faith reached for her, stroking her face this time, "Look. I'm not planning on being killed anytime soon."

"You can't promise that."

"The Burning Legion is invading, Sylvanas, I don't think anybody can promise that. But, honey?"

Sylvanas blinked at her.

"You can't kill Varelia. I mean it. If I hear that you so much as went near her with the intention of harming her, you will never see me again. I need you to understand that, and understand it clearly."

"I understand."

"I will end my life if you keep doing this kind of thing in my name. I'm not worth thousands of people dying."

"You are to me."

"No."

"Yes. Accept it."

"I accept that you love me, Sylvanas, but I refuse to accept the fact that you are willing to burn the world to the ground in order to keep me safe." She took Sylvanas' chin in her hand, "Promise me that you won't kill her."

"Will you promise me to stay in Undercity where you won't be hurt?"

"Sure. Sure, I'll stay here in Undercity and rot while the Burning Legion destroys our entire world again. Get serious, will you?"

"Faith, I am perfectly serious."

"You want me to stay in Undercity while the Burning Legion destroys our world, and if I don't do that, you're going to kill my last living relative in order to make me stronger? Are you listening to your logic?"

"All right, I guess that sounds a little demanding."

"More than a little, Your Majesty." Faith moved away from her, shaking her head.

Sylvanas grabbed her hand, "I don't want you hurt."

"I know. I heard you. I don't want you hurt either, honey. What, you think I'm doing all of this for fun? You think I  _want_  to be away from you all the time, never knowing whether we'll see each other again? I hate it, but you're the one who taught me to fight for what we have."

"When did I do that?"

"Every day you were alive, and even after you died."

"So you understand why I keep fighting for you to stay alive."

"Yes, but not at the expense of the Forsaken."

"It's not at the expense of the Forsaken. Keeping you alive is not only what's best for me, but what's best for Undercity. Trust me, you're an integral part of all our lives."

Faith shook her head again, "You're unbelievable, you know that?"

Sylvanas shrugged, "I try. Now, come on, we really  _do_  have a lot of work that awaits us. I wasn't kidding about the airships."

"I'll get right on that."

"Work with Nathanos." She chuckled at the look on Faith's face, "Please?"

"Do I have to?"

Sylvanas pressed her lips to Faith's ear, "I'll make love to you afterwards."

"Well, I guess I don't need any more incentive than that, do I?" She giggled and kissed her quickly before leaving the office. Once outside, though, her expression grew serious.

_I have a niece_ , she thought. Taegan had had a child. A daughter. Someone he should have watched grow and play. A young woman who was ready to enter adulthood.

She rubbed her eyes and walked away from the office, aware that Sylvanas' eyes were on her.

"Oh, Faith?"

She turned around.

"When all this is over, we can go see her, if you want."

Faith smiled a little through the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes, "No. I think that if her mother had needed me, she would have known where to find me. I don't think they need me in their lives. And that's okay."

* * *

Faith spent the rest of the week working on the airships with Nathanos and the First Magi Corps. The only time she stopped whatever she was doing was to read the messages that came from all the leaders of the Horde and Alliance alike.

Everybody had mobilized, suddenly finding hidden resources and using them to fortify their cities and arm their people. All the races were working seamlessly together, proving that they could indeed get along, when the circumstances were dire enough.

"And all it took was the Burning Legion invading us again," muttered Faith one evening as she changed into her favorite outfit, a variant of the ones Sylvanas had gotten for her: Undercity violet fading to the deepest black. "I suppose it's better than us fighting each other."

"Maybe so," Sylvanas told her. "But I'd prefer the Legion stay away from us, even if it means being at war with the Alliance."

Faith smirked, smacking her ass as she walked near her, "You only want to be at war with them because you want to raise human corpses for your Forsaken army."

"I've never denied that." She kissed her. "The tauren should be getting here in a few minutes. Are you ready?"

A nod, "I am."

"Good. Let's go, then."

They made their way to the Ruins of Lordaeron just as a large group of tauren arrived.

"My sun child!" cried a voice.

Faith grinned, running toward the tauren who stood to Baine's left, "Atalo! What are you doing here?" She hugged him, laughing as he lifted her right off the ground and twirled her around once.

"Ah, I wasn't about to stay in Thunder Bluff while my people go fight demons. Besides, your mother would have killed me for not looking after you in battle."

"It's good to see you, Father," she said to him in Taur-ahe.

"It is good to see you too." He nuzzled her cheek before turning to Sylvanas, who was watching them with an indulgent expression on her face. "Lady Sylvanas, it is always a pleasure."

"Likewise, Atalo," she said. "Although I wish you were all here for better reasons." She nodded to Baine, "Welcome, High Chieftain."

"Thank you, Sylvanas."

"We have a meal ready for you, should you wish for some food. Ale, Silvermoon cheese, and fresh bread made by the shaman who reside here."

"Food would be welcome, thank you," said Baine as several tauren cheered. "We had a difficult journey, despite all the help we had from the elements."

"Right this way."

She led the tauren to a part of the ruins that Faith scarcely went in, but where a huge table had been set up, laden with three dozen loaves of bread, wheels of fragrant cheese, heavy cream, fruit, and honey. A pig was roasting in a corner, its smell delectable. One of Faith's spells completely kept the stench of decay away from the area, making everyone feel much more at ease.

"Is this a last meal?" wondered Atalo, his ears twitching.

"Don't be ridiculous," Faith told him, clapping him on the shoulder. "But you all need to eat if you're going to be strong enough for battle. We have more food coming from Silvermoon if anybody would like anything else."

"You didn't have to do all of this," said Baine. "We have rations."

Sylvanas smiled, "Keep the rations for war, and eat well while you can. You never know when your next hearty meal will be once the battle begins."

"She drilled this into my brothers," said Faith. "They always devoured everything we made when they came home. We kept asking them whether they were being fed, and they told us exactly what Sylvanas has just told you."

"I suppose we will be underway soon?"

A nod, "Faith has just finished working on the airships."

"We have six of them, each capable of holding up to fifty soldiers. Vol'jin is sending more of them to us in case we need to prepare a second assault, and Gallywix is working on additional zeppelins for us."

"Zeppelins aren't really war vessels," said Sylvanas, "but they'll do in a pinch. They're certainly faster than ships on the water, and we have four of those ready to go as well, just in case."

Baine stared at her, "How hard have you been working your people?"

A smile, "The advantage of being undead is that we don't get tired like the other races, and we don't need to stop to eat or sleep. An hour's rest replenishes us just fine, which leaves the rest of the day and night to work."

"Magic also helps," said Faith casually.

"That it does. Sit down, Baine, eat something. We'll talk later."

He nodded, "I certainly wouldn't want any of this food to go to waste."

"You can thank Faith. It was her idea."

"You supplied the food," said Faith.

Atalo laughed, "The two of you make a good team." He watched as the two of them shared a private look and a smile. "My sun child and her lover, the daughter of darkness."

* * *

**Author's note:**

Surprise! I found myself really inspired, and wrote this whole chapter in a day. I hope you enjoyed it!

Lunarelle


	41. Chapter 41

**Author's note:**

I'm so sorry it took me this long to update, everyone!  Life got the better of me and kept me really busy, plus I had to get ready for a business trip, which I'm on right now!  Not to mention the fact that I had to rerwrite the whole chapter because I hated it.  Anyway, I hope you like it!

Love,  
Lunarelle

* * *

It was time.

Faith stood at the docks that overlooked Tirisfal Bay, watching as several ships got ready to leave for the Broken Shore. Rotvine stood next to her, overseeing the preparations and the hauling of supplies onto each ship.

"Will you and Sylvanas be leaving by airship?" he asked.

She nodded, "We'll take  _Lirath's Call_ , while Baine and the tauren take the  _An'she_."

"Who named these ships?"

Faith raised an eyebrow, "I did, but Sylvanas approved them."

He chuckled, "Of course she did. She'd approve of anything you did."

"I wish she did." She turned her head, her gaze on the horizon line. It was hard to believe that demons were invading an area that was so close to their home, when things appeared so peaceful where she was. "I'm worried."

"The contrary would have astounded me," commented Rotvine. "Of course you're worried, you're about to go into battle with Sylvanas. When the two of you have to fight together, your worry increases tenfold."

"Not that. Or at least, I'm not only worried about Sylvanas. What are we going to find? Khadgar said that there were hundreds of demons when he went there. How many more do you think have arrived? Will we be able to fight them off? What if we can't?"

"Then I suppose that we'll die fighting for our world. It wouldn't be the first time."

No. It wouldn't be the first time that they died for their world. She shook her head and turned back towards Undercity, "I need to get back to the queen. Can you oversee the rest of the preparations?"

"Of course," he said. "I was doing fine without you."

Faith smiled, "Yeah, you were. I'll see you later, Carrick."

She walked towards an area where a portal had been set up and stepped into the vortex, landing in the Ruins of Lordaeron just in time to see several troops arriving from Agamand. Sylvanas was there too, and gave her a brief smile that seemed to warm her very soul.

"Good timing, Commander. I was just about to come look for you. We have something to discuss."

"Whenever you wish, I'm at your disposal."

"Don't say that, I'll want to do something else."

"Please do," Faith told her quietly. "I'll be in our office whenever you need me."

Sylvanas held out a hand, "We can talk now. Come on."

Faith looked at her, a small frown creasing her features, "Should I be worried?"

"No, this is a good thing." She led Faith towards the Lordaeron throne room, where echoes of the distant past still reverberated. Sometimes she swore that she could hear the conversation King Terenas Menethil had had with Arthas before he'd been killed.

Faith watched as she sat on the throne, the very image of everything a queen should be, grace and power tinged with an unimaginable darkness, yet still capable of radiating fairness where she saw fit. "You look good on that chair, Sylvanas."

A chuckle, "You would think that, wouldn't you?"

"I would, and I do." She knelt, "What can I do for you, my queen?"

"For one thing, you can get up. You make me nervous when you get down on one knee."

Faith burst into laughter, getting back to her feet. "Better?"

"Infinitely." She cleared her throat, "You've done really well lately." She waited for Faith's eyes to find hers before she went on. "Your command of the forces on Draenor was particularly noteworthy."

"I didn't do much."

"On the contrary, my darling, you did quite a bit. You kept everyone together when you got stuck on Draenor. You managed to lead everyone, despite the fact that some soldiers were less than happy about having a Forsaken in charge."

"Everyone faces challenges when they lead, even you."

Sylvanas chuckled, "I didn't get to where I am by being nice."

"You are nice!" exclaimed Faith. "To me, anyway."

"To you. But you care about everyone. In that respect, you're a better leader than I am."

"Don't say that…"

"But it's the truth. Thrall and Liadrin only had good things to say about your leadership. Which is why the warchief approved of this when I approached him about it."

"Approached him about what?" asked Faith, taking a step back.

Sylvanas got to her feet, taking something from the pocket of her cloak. Wordlessly, she walked to Faith and took her hand, dropping a pin into it.

It was a beautiful thing. Finely crafted, it was the broken mask belonging to the Forsaken crest, complete with the shattered pieces, on top of which was a row of five thin silver stars.

Faith had never seen such an insignia in Undercity, but the design was eerily familiar. Sylvanas had worn something like it when she'd been alive, but with a more Thalassian design to it.

"Congratulations, General Everstone," said Sylvanas in a whisper. "You deserve it."

* * *

General of the Forsaken armies.

She was general.  _General._

Standing there, she just stared at the pin in her hand, stunned. Not knowing what to say, she finally lifted her eyes to look at Sylvanas.

"Say something, Faith."

"You're making me general…"

"Well, I made you general. It's already done, and you can't contest it."

"Sylvanas, I'm not… I'm not you. I can't lead the way you can."

"No one's asking you to be me. I promoted you – and Vol'jin agreed – because you have all the qualities we look for in our leaders."

Faith looked unconvinced, "Such as?"

"I'm not about to enumerate them, Faith. Suffice it to say that everyone agreed with me."

"You keep saying that I'm always charging into battle headfirst, without thinking."

Sylvanas smiled, "Well, it's true. But I also know why you do it. Faith, you've accumulated a lot of knowledge over the years. I'm aware I pushed you into leadership roles before you felt you were ready, but that's because I believed in everything you were capable of."

"You're biased."

Laughter echoed across the throne room, "I don't doubt that I am. But I also happen to be right."

Faith shook her head, handing the insignia back to Sylvanas, who took it from her and pinned it on her tunic.

"Yes." Sylvanas looked directly at her, "You deserve this. You're right for it, and if you don't trust my words, at least trust the fact that I would never do anything that I felt wasn't right for us and for Undercity."

That last sentence struck home. If there was one thing Faith was absolutely sure of, it was that Sylvanas loved her, and that she always had her best interests in mind. And she loved her people, even though she didn't show it in any conventional way.

"You really think I can do this," she whispered.

Sylvanas put her index finger under Faith's chin, "I really do."

It took a moment for Faith to respond, as she absorbed the impact of the sheer amount of trust Sylvanas was placing in her. "Thank you," she said finally. "It means a lot to me."

"You do realize that I'm not just doing this because you're my lover, right?"

A nod, "I know."

"Good. Now, come on, General, we have work to do."

Faith followed her back into the city, feeling dazed. Out of all the things she had ever seen herself doing in her life (and undeath), becoming general hadn't been anywhere on the list.

"I never gave much thought to the direction my life was going to take," she mused. "Even when I was alive."

Sylvanas smiled, "I remember. You wanted to be a ranger, but that was only because you wanted to be close to me."

"You remember that?" Faith asked her. "That surprises me."

"It shouldn't. I remember everything about you."

"I thought you didn't always remember things from when you were alive? At least unimportant stuff."

"You're not unimportant," said Sylvanas simply.

Not knowing how to answer that, Faith simply walked with her, their hands touching occasionally without actually taking hold. It brought back memories of the few times the two of them had nearly,  _nearly_ , held hands, afraid of actually doing it.

"You said I would have made a good ranger."

Sylvanas nodded, "You would have. The training would have been hard, especially the way that I'd designed it. But you wouldn't have become a general had you stayed with the Farstriders."

"I would have died with you in Quel'Thalas."

Sylvanas glanced at her, "I don't know about that. I'm not sure I would have let you die, even if you'd been one of my rangers."

Faith smiled, her fingers curling around Sylvanas'. "It doesn't matter now."

"No." Sylvanas squeezed her hand, "I don't suppose it does." She cleared her throat, "Do you have everything ready for tomorrow's departure?"

"Yeah. Carrick is overseeing the final preparations of the ships. He won't be coming with us, will he?"

"No, he'll stay here and run the city with Nathanos."

"You should be staying here too," said Faith quietly.

The squeeze of Sylvanas' hand became painful. "No."

"I don't like the thought of you in battle…"

"I'll be fine."

Would she be? Faith held Sylvanas back and looked at her, wanting to say a hundred things to her, but unable to find the words to voice her worry. "I'm scared," she said. It didn't seem to be conveying what she felt at all, but it was the best she could come up with. "I'm so scared, Sylvanas."

"I know." The queen's voice was quiet. "But everything's going to be all right, you'll see."

They would see.

* * *

Sylvanas was issuing orders, reminding people to take extra ammunition and potions for battle.

"I doubt we'll have time to establish any kind of base when we get there," she said. "So make sure to have supplies on you!"

Faith was wearing robes she'd bought a few months previously but had never actually worn before. Made of butter-soft deerskin that had been reinforced with various spells, it was coal black, fading to red on the sleeves, hem, and around her waist. They had slits on the sides that allowed her to move her legs freely, and had the bonus of allowing her to keep a leather pack strapped to her leg where she kept all of her supplies.

Sylvanas blinked twice when she saw her wearing them, unable to speak for a moment, just staring.

"Are you trying to end me, Faith?" she asked after nearly a minute.

"Do you like them?"

"You look positively stunning."

She wasn't the only one who thought that, and she knew it. The robes, while obviously having been crafted for combat use, looked as though they had been made to hug Faith's body in all the right places.

Even the shoulderpads were sexy, starting out as black and fading to red in three serpentine spikes.

"I thought you'd like them," said Faith quietly.

"You should know that I would like it even if you wore a burlap sack over your body."

Faith laughed. "I'll remember that next time - it'll save me some coin."

"Do I want to know how much you spent on these?"

"I didn't use Undercity funds for them, don't worry."

"You could, you know. It's battle gear, it falls into the budget I have allocated for you."

Faith shook her head, "I use that for basic war necessities."

"Such as?"

"Enhancement crystals, potion ingredients, weapons. You know, things like that."

"Faith, you can use it for armor too, even if it's embellished."

"I have my own coin for embellishments. But if it makes you feel better, I've used the budget for basic leggings."

Slightly mollified, Sylvanas shook her head, "I just don't want you to use all your money on this kind of stuff when you have an allocated budget. How much of it have you used anyway?"

"It's in the ledgers, I suppose," said Faith. "We can talk about this when we get home."

"Yeah, we will. Come here."

Faith did, closing her eyes as Sylvanas kissed her gently. "Mmm, can we skip the battle and stay home?"

"I wish we could." She really did. Faith was trying to hide it, but she could read the fear in her eyes. She wasn't feeling too sure about this battle either, not knowing exactly what awaited them on the Broken Shore…

* * *

It was time.

Soldiers were climbing onto the ships that would carry them away from Tirisfal Glades and into the unknown.

Faith and Sylvanas said goodbye to Rotvine and Nathanos, both of whom had come to see them off.

"You know the drill," Sylvanas told them. "I don't want to see my city burned to the ground when we return."

"I guess that rules out the bonfire party we were planning," said Rotvine to Nathanos.

Faith chuckled, "We'll see you soon," she said, giving Rotvine a hug.

"Take care of her," said Nathanos, fixing Faith with an orange stare.

Sylvanas put an arm around Faith's waist, "She always does."

"By that, I'm asking you not to get killed, Faith. I don't know whether we'll be able to pick up the pieces if anything happens to you."

His concern was only for Sylvanas' wellbeing, which made her smile. "We'll be fine. But thank you for your concern."

They left a few minutes later, as a pale ray of sun attempted to break through the cloud cover that was constantly over Tirisfal.

Faith and Sylvanas took their place in the captain's cabin, indulging in a moment of privacy. It was brief, each of them gathering strength from the other with a kiss, a touch, a look.

"You're still scared," commented Sylvanas, pulling the hood of her cloak back over her head.

Faith gave a nod. "I'm terrified. I have that feeling again."

"The one you had before the Scourge invasion?"

"That's the one."

"We're all scared, love. But we're going to be fine."

"You don't believe that for a second."

"If I wasn't positive that you were going to be okay, I would have locked you in our chambers."

"That would have been a heck of a message to send: promote me to general and lock me up to keep me from battle." She brushed a finger over one of Sylvanas' ears, which twitched, "Are the Val'kyr here because you're hoping to raise human corpses into undeath? Because you know that neither Varian or Vol'jin will allow that to happen."

"All right, so they're here for us in case something happens."

"For you, you mean."

Sylvanas looked at her, "No, for  _us._  They're under strict orders to bring you back if anything happens."

"No they're not," said Faith, aghast. "Sylvanas, you -."

"I am not about to lose you. Ever."

"Sylvanas, honey, you can't think like that!"

"Are you about to tell me that you're not at all worried about me? Because that feeling you have doesn't apply to anybody else, and nothing you say will make me believe anything to the contrary."

Faith shook her head, sitting on the bed and looking up at her, "What are we going to do, Sylvanas? What if we can't defeat them?"

Sylvanas came to stand between her legs, stroking her face with her thumbs, "We'll deal with it then."

There was nothing else to be said. Faith pulled Sylvanas down to sit on her lap, kissing her hungrily and wishing they could do more. "I love you."

"I love you."

* * *

The journey to the Broken Shore was uneventful, save for the darkening sky and the swelling of the sea beneath them.

Faith kept a close eye on the ships to make sure that their soldiers there were all right. Not far from her, Sylvanas watched the horizon line, knowing they were getting closer to their objective.

The two of them were never more than ten feet away from each other, unconsciously mirroring each other's movements, even when they weren't looking at each other.

"You keep being pulled towards each other," commented Atalo as the second day of their journey drew to a close. "Like two forces refusing to be separated."

"I suppose that's what we are," said Sylvanas.

"You love her as much now than you ever did, don't you? More so, I think."

"I don't know if I can love her more than I already do."

"But you do."

She nodded, "I do." She looked towards her, "She's my everything."

Atalo smiled, "I couldn't be happier for the two of you. You've had a rough time of it, but you're still together, despite all of that. Your love Is something I never thought I would ever get to see."

"You experience that with your mate all the time."

"Maybe it is because I am used to it with Taisha, but you and Faith… it seems to be stronger, what you feel."

"I've never experienced the kind of love I have with Faith. The relationships I had before her seem meaningless by comparison." She looked towards Faith again and saw her gazing at her in wonder. She held out her hand, and she came to her gladly, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

"The sea is getting worse," she said softly.

Sylvanas nodded as a gust of wind caused their ship to rock, "So's the sky. We're close."

And so they were. The clouds around them had grown dark and menacing, tinged with a fel green light Sylvanas didn't like.

"We'd better get ready," said Faith in a low voice.

The ship rocked again. Several people cried out in alarm, as did people on other ships. Below them, the people on the water were scarcely faring better. One look through the spyglass confirmed that the living weren't appreciating the trip at all.

"Not even the potions are helping them," said Faith quietly.

"The demons aren't going to make this easy for us," replied Sylvanas.

"You were expecting otherwise?"

"Hardly."

"The Alliance is here!" cried someone.

Sylvanas' gaze cut to her right. Sure enough, an Alliance airship was flying by their side, its golden masts gleaming even in the deepening darkness.

And standing on the deck of the ship was King Varian in full battle armor, his scarred face looking grave. He looked at her, and she nodded in greeting, as Faith came to stand closer to her.

She was about to say something to Faith when a warning rang out from their captain.

"We're under attack!" he cried.

Faith turned away from Varian, her eyes widening. "To arms!" she screamed, as a cloud of creatures barreled towards them. "It's fel bats!"

The cry was picked up by people on the other ships, just in time to counter the first wave of bats, who swarmed around them with horrifying screeches.

Faith sent out a bolt of white arcane energy that looked like a shimmering moonray, which encircled one of the bats and began to squeeze it. The bat gave a shriek, but was unable to escape the spell, which killed it in a few seconds. She cast the spell several more times, killing another four creatures with it.

She saw Sylvanas looking at her, probably meaning to ask her where she had learned that spell, but they had no time to talk as a fell green fireball suddenly seemed to materialize above Varian's flagship and began hurtling down towards the High King of the Alliance.


	42. Chapter 42

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anxiety + stress at work = writer's block. Sorry about the delay, everyone!

The attack came on too fast for Faith and Sylvanas to react immediately. They watched as Varian raised his sword, Shalamayne, just in time to parry what would have been a crushing blow from the infernal. He was driven backwards, and Faith instinctually took a step towards Varian's ship, meaning to go to his aid, but Sylvanas held her back.

"He doesn't need your help," she said. "Look."

It was true. Varian was holding his own, the infernal not able to touch him, as its blows kept being parried. But it was unlikely that he'd be able to keep staying on the defensive. Sooner or later, something was going to give.

"Sylvanas, if Varian dies –."

"He's not going to die," Sylvanas told her. But upon seeing the look on Faith's face, she grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow, waiting a split second before she released it, hitting the infernal directly. In unison, the two of them leapt off their ship and onto Varian's, helping him dispatch the creature efficiently.

Varian was about to thank them when another infernal landed on his ship, accompanied by two dozen fel bats. In horror, Faith watched as more bats attacked their flagship, tearing at the sails.

Looking around, she saw that everyone was under attack, both in the air and on the ocean. Spells and arrows fired from every direction as Horde and Alliance alike fought together to get rid of the demons.

"This doesn't look good!" she shouted to Sylvanas as she used her spellblade to sever a bat's wing from its body. A second later, she'd killed it, crushing its skull with her boot.

Sylvanas didn't answer – there was no need to. The fighting intensified, and suddenly, a third infernal crashed onto the deck, causing the ship to list severely to its left.

"Heads up!" cried Varian as they suddenly collided with  _Lirath's Call_. The jolt caused Faith to lose her balance, and she would have tumbled right off the edge of the ship had the king not grabbed her arm to steady her.

Both the ships started going down.

* * *

They were crashing fast. Sylvanas knew that she and Faith would most likely survive such a crash, but Varian would die. She heard Faith screaming something about Atalo, and saw the wizened tauren on the deck of the  _Lirath_ , trying to perform a spell to slow the ship down.

She cursed.

"We're not going to make it," she muttered. "Faith! Do something!"

Faith looked at her, eyes wide as she regained her footing. Do something? There was no time. All she could do was try to shield them all as the two ships fell out of the sky.

They hit the water with a jolt that would have ordinarily broken every bone in their bodies. Faith's protective spell shattered on impact, but was just enough to keep them alive.

She felt herself sinking beneath the roaring waves, too stunned for a moment to do anything but process what had happened.

Several Alliance soldiers sank before her, most of them dead: her spell hadn't reached them in time.

Varian was there, seeming to struggle with the steel armor on his back, which was dragging him down quickly.

Reaching out a hand, she cast another spell. This one looked like a whip of white light that curled itself around her wrist, the other end shooting through the water to grab Varian's outstretched hand.

She pulled, hard.

The high king of the Alliance began to rise, slowly at first, then increasing in speed as Faith intensified the spell. The force of it caused the two of them to suddenly shoot out of the water like the weirdest-looking fish one could imagine.

Coughing up water, wheezing, Varian grabbed the first rocky outcropping he saw, pulling himself up. Next to him, Faith did the same, glancing around. Looking for Sylvanas.

Varian tapped her on the shoulder, still out of breath. He pointed to some rocks a few feet away. "She's right there," he gasped.

And she was. Bow in hand, she was shooting arrow after arrow at incoming demons while Atalo lay at her feet, recovering from the crash. He seemed soaked to the skin, but very much alive.

Sylvanas glanced over, her eyes finding Faith's. She nodded, satisfied to note that she was still alive, then turned her attention to the demons, who appeared to be backing off a little. "Faith," she called, motioning to the water. "Take care of that, will you?"

Faith turned her eyes to where Sylvanas had gestured, seeing that there were several people struggling to stay afloat. She quickly waved her arm in one swooping motion, little darts of magic shooting from her fingers as she did so. The magic settled itself beneath each person, lifting them slightly out of the water and pushing them towards shallower waters.

"Where did you learn that?" Varian asked her, his eyes wide.

"Around. You'd be surprised how much magic you learn in twenty years of war."

"I'm impressed, General Everstone."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Now, we can't stay here. We have additional ships coming, but it'll take them another hour at least to get to us – we could be dead by then."

Sylvanas heard her and nodded, "Let's get to shore."

They did so, aided by Faith and Atalo, who had recovered enough to call for the elements.

"I saw another couple of ships crashing beyond that hill over there," said Sylvanas as they finally stepped onto the sandy shore. "We should get to them and search for survivors."

"Yeah, we're gonna get right on that, love," Faith told her. "How exactly do you expect us to get past a hundred demons?"

"Luck?"

Faith shook her head, "We're in no condition for that kind of battle. We lost half our soldiers during that crash. We need to regroup and come up with a plan of action."

Sylvanas chuckled, "And you say that you're not fit to be general."

"I'm only repeating what I've heard you say a hundred times."

"I'm glad. And ordinarily, you'd be completely right, except –."

"Except the demons are going to see us at any moment and will come swooping down on us, I know."

A nod, "Precisely." She looked at the soldiers who were struggling to regain their footing. Some of them were badly wounded, while others were supporting each other – Horde and Alliance alike. Garia and Vilak walked over to her, the two of them relatively unscathed.

"That was an interesting way to land here," Garia told her. "You think we could try for something a little more dramatic next time?"

"We'll look into that," said Sylvanas, smiling grimly. "Okay, what do you all want to do?" she asked the soldiers. "We can either stay here and wait for the demons to pick us off one by one, or we can take the fight to them right now."

A man, his black hair plastered to his face with blood, looked up from where he was sitting, "If we're going to die anyway, we might as well go down fighting."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Do we have any way to heal people?" asked Varian.

"Some," replied Atalo. "I'll try to heal as many soldiers as I can before we have to move."

"You have five minutes to get ready," said Sylvanas. "Then, we move."

Five minutes. It didn't seem like enough time to get ready for the monumental task ahead of them, but they made it work. Atalo and the handful of healers still alive managed to take care of most of the wounded soldiers, while other spellcasters put up protective barriers around all of them.

It was the best they could do.

* * *

They stuck to the beach, trying to find a pathway inland that wasn't overrun with demons. It was anything but easy, and they were forced on multiple occasions to engage the fel creatures, attempting to be as quiet about it as possible.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, they managed to scale the treacherous pass that led them to where the other ships had crashed.

They stared.

"No," whispered Faith, stunned. "This cannot be. Sylvanas, how did they get so many of them here so quickly?"

Demons were all over the place. Infernals, eredar, felhounds, voidwalkers, imps, fel bats, and other creatures they had no name for. There might have been a thousand of them in that one area, coming out of portals that materialized out of nowhere.

"They have ships," commented the banshee queen grimly. "Look."

There were indeed ships in the sky, looking like nothing ever seen on Azeroth, or even on Draenor. Huge, and colored black and a fel shade of green, they seemed big enough to carry hundreds of Burning Legion forces.

"I don't like this at all," whispered Faith.

"None of us like this, General," said Sylvanas. "But we've still gotta go in there. Let's get to the ships."

"I only see the Horde ship," said Varian. "Where's the Alliance ship?"

Sylvanas pointed, "Right over there."

He nodded, "Let's hope there's someone alive in the wreckage."

They split up, the Alliance going one way, while the members of Horde made their way to their own crashed airship.

The demons had left the crash site alone. Evidently, the ones in charge of the invasion felt that it was nothing to worry about. And as they got closer to it, Faith and Sylvanas had to admit that they were partially correct in that assumption.

Dozens of Forsaken and tauren lay dead among the wreckage. Faith made a small sound of pain upon seeing them, but Sylvanas didn't react.

"Look for survivors," she ordered.

There were some. The crash had taken a lot of people by surprise, but some of them had managed to save themselves and a few comrades with magic. Out of the hundred soldiers who had been onboard, over half of them had died, but the forty survivors were ready for battle after just a few healing spells.

"It's better than I expected," said Sylvanas to Faith.

Faith nodded, "We're lucky there are any survivors at all. I hope the Alliance was as lucky as we were." She looked at the airship. It was completely destroyed, but the wreck offered them some protection. "You want to make a stand here while we wait for the others to arrive?"

"It's as good a place as any. We can't very well take the whole island with just ninety soldiers, can we?"

Faith agreed. The last thing they wanted was to fill an additional ninety coffins for the others to take back to Orgrimmar. Enough people had died already, and the battle hadn't even begun yet.

They began to set up camp, keeping as quiet as they could so as not to alert the Legion to their presence. All of them were conscious of the fact that they stood very little chance of making it home alive, much less unscathed, but they had no choice anymore. Faith asked Garia and Vilak to keep an eye out for the rest of the Horde and the Alliance.

"We'll attack when they do. Hopefully we'll be able to do some good here before we're all killed."

Vilak nodded, "I think I see an airship," he said, looking up at the clouds. "It's Horde."

"Baine's ship," confirmed Faith after a few seconds. "Thank Titans they're all right." She cursed suddenly, "They're going to be attacked." She ran back to Sylvanas, who had archers ready to defend the  _An'she_.

"Go to them, Faith. Now, take a group of ten and make sure they can get their people down without getting killed."

Already in motion, Faith grabbed ten people, including Atalo, and sprinted back down the path to the beach. As she got there, fel bats attacked the airship in force. Several tauren were already on the beach, and fighting the few bats that had swept down upon them.

"Chieftain!" she cried, as he began to climb down the rope. An enormous bat, spitting poison from its fanged mouth, attacked him at his most vulnerable. Needing both hands to keep a hold on the rope, he had no way to defend himself against the assault. "Oh no you don't, you devil." She took aim and cast her black fire, which caught the bat's wing, beginning to incinerate it at an alarming rate. It shrieked, the sound painful even to Faith, and Baine suddenly lost his balance when he automatically clamped one of his hands over his ears.

Faith screamed, but there was really no need of that. Atalo, displaying his calming nature, conjured a soft whirlwind powerful enough to keep Baine from crashing to the ground, instead allowing him to land softly. "By the gods, I'm so sorry, Chieftain…" she said.

"Don't be sorry, you saved me, and had no way of knowing that thing would shriek so loudly."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, General. No harm done." He squeezed her shoulder once and watched as other tauren braves climbed down from the airship. "Let's get off this beach," he said as the last soldier had joined them.

Faith signaled for the ship to depart, not wanting it to take more damage than it already had. She got a signal back, and a minute later, saw them backing away from the island. "This invasion is intense," she said to Baine as they climbed back to where Sylvanas and the others were. "I've never seen anything like it."

"There's an eye opener," he hissed, taking a look at the sheer amount of Burning Legion forces in front of them. "How are we supposed to get through that?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "Even with all of you, it's not going to be easy. We'll have to wait until the others arrive."

"The Alliance is landing on the other side of that ridge," Baine told her. "I suppose that if we clear out the separate sides of the island, we'll be able to meet up somewhere in the middle and attack the Tomb of Sargeras together."

"Attack the Tomb of Sargeras," repeated Faith. "Is that all we have to do? For a minute there I thought you were going to suggest something difficult."

"We could go home if you'd prefer. Granted, I have no idea how long we'd last with the Legion on our tail, but we would be momentarily safe."

Faith ignored her statement, instead using a spyglass to peer at the demons. "Some of them are moving with a purpose," she said. "Look at those crystals. It looks like the eredar are imbuing them with magic."

Sylvanas took the spyglass from her, looking for herself. She gave a nod, "I think you're right. I have no idea what those crystals do, but let us assume that it won't be anything good."

"You want us to kill them?" Faith asked her.

"We may not have a choice," she said quietly. "Is there anything you can do to get some of them to come closer to us so that we don't have to expose ourselves to the other demons?"

Faith looked at her, surprised, "Are you afraid to go near them?"

"I'm not afraid of anything," she snarled, her eyes flashing a brighter shade of red.

Not believing that for a second, Faith knelt, placing her hands flat on the ground. She murmured a spell, and tendrils of blue smoky light curled out of her fingers and into the earth, all but eliminating the fel green slime that had been there. Little by little, it spread to their entire area and began moving towards the demons. Some of them looked over, walking towards them.

"That's very good, my sun child," said Atalo. "Are you purifying the land?"

Faith shook her head, "No, I'm just using magic to counteract the fel. Get ready, they're coming this way."

There were ten of them, eredar, voidwalkers, and a Nathrezim, Atalo could see them from a hole on the side of the ship's wall.

"Silence them the second they come around the corner," ordered Sylvanas. "If they raise the alarm, we're done for."

The Legion soldiers arrived just a few seconds later, and various spellcasters immediately got to work on them, while a rogue effectively cut the tendons of one of the eredar's legs to keep him from running away. Five minutes later, the ten of them were dead, dispatched back to the Twisting Nether.

"Good job," said Sylvanas. There were still hundreds of demons there, but it was a start. She looked at Faith.  _It's not enough_ , she thought.

Faith heard her, "I know, but it's the best we can do now until our reinforcements arrive."

"Ask, and you shall receive," said Garia, suddenly appearing behind her with Vilak. "They're here."

* * *

Five ships full of Horde soldiers. Orcs, Sin'dorei, trolls, goblins, and pandaren, all of them were ready for combat. Almost as soon as they arrived, they began to battle, the fight visible from where Sylvanas stood, looking down on them.

"Good," she said. "Let's get started. Spellcasters and archers, I want you to start the attack. Ground forces, start moving once the demons come towards us, understood?"

Everyone nodded, and Sylvanas looked at Faith, who immediately commanded the spellcasters to begin their attack.

It happened very fast. The air around them was suddenly full of multicolored spells, hitting the Burning Legion from every direction. And while they must have been expecting the attack, they were taken by surprise, at least by the first wave of spells.

Demonic bats began to swoop down upon them, attempting to pluck soldiers from the field.

But not for nothing had the First Magi Corps worked in Northrend against Scourge flyers who had done the exact same thing. Within minutes, they had neutralized over half of the Legion's flying forces and caused the rest of them to flee.

"Good job, everyone!" cried Faith. "Keep it up!"

Close to a hundred demons lay dead before them, their blood and ichor staining the ground red, black, and green in a no man's land between the Horde forces and the rest of the Burning Legion.

Tension rose.

Faith and Sylvanas readied themselves, their hands touching once.


	43. Chapter 43

It was intense.

As reinforcements began to arrive, the Burning Legion, perhaps realizing that it wouldn't be able to win as easily as it had hoped, doubled its efforts against Sylvanas and her forces.

Faith had a nasty time of it when an eredar warlock set his sights on her, keeping her on the defensive for at least a minute until a Forsaken rogue snuck up behind him and killed him where he stood.

"Destroy that final crystal!" called Sylvanas, feeling oddly drained by the fighting. She didn't know how much time had gone by, but she knew that it had been quite some time since she'd battled so continuously, without any sort of break. Part of her was worried about the way she felt: being the leader of the Forsaken, she was immensely powerful, and was able to fight for long periods of time without pause.

But this was something else. She glanced around, and saw, to her alarm, that other Forsaken, including Faith, were showing signs of weariness.

 _It's not normal_ , she said to herself. "Faith! Get over here!"

Faith killed the monstrous doomguard who had been intent on beheading her, and quickly made her way to Sylvanas. "What is it?"

"I think there's a spell on the area. Something to drain us of our energy. I haven't felt this tired since the day I died."

Staring at her, Faith blinked. It made sense. The Burning Legion had already tried to conquer Azeroth multiple times, which meant that its leaders would have wanted to have an additional advantage against them. She looked up at the sky, from where more felbats and infernals were dropping.

"Sylvanas," she whispered. "I think this whole portion of sky is the Legion's portal into Azeroth."

"The  _what_?" her eyes widened in alarm.

"I remember the same thing happening in Shadowmoon Valley in Outland. Infernals kept dropping in out of nowhere, and as it turned out, their portal was there. And I remember that people felt the same fatigue then that we do now."

"You're telling me that the Burning Legion has made it so that anybody who's within sight of one of their massive portals is drained of energy?"

"I don't know, Sylvanas, it's the only explanation I can think of."

Sylvanas looked at her. It seemed like a very farfetched explanation to her, but she supposed it was a valid one. "And what are we supposed to do with that, exactly?"

Faith shook her head, "Keep fighting, I guess. What other choice do we have?"

"Well, of course we're going to keep fighting. Did you guys come up with a solution in Outland?"

"I don't know. You called us back from the front before I even knew about it."

The queen cursed softly. "Stay close to me."

* * *

They could see Thrall, Vol'jin, and hundreds of Horde soldiers cresting over a ridge to come to their aid. Some of them were making their way down, attempting to avoid a barrage of explosives sent down from the Burning Legion ships circling above them. One of the bombs landed directly on them, and Faith cried out as she saw a group of Sin'dorei blown apart.

"It's about time you showed up," said Sylvanas to Vol'jin when he finally managed to get down to them.

"So sorry for the delay," he told her. "We had some business to take care of on da beach. It looks like you've been busy."

"You can say that again. I've never seen so many demons in one spot before. Whenever we kill ten, thirty others take their place, it's like a weird regenerating monster."

"The Alliance is facing the same conditions on the other side of the battlefield," said Faith, pointing in that direction with her sword. "I don't think this is going to be as easy as we thought."

"Nobody said this was going to be  _easy_ ," said Sylvanas, glancing at her. "But I never expected this mess."

Vol'jin shook his head, "None of us did."

"Damn…" hissed Faith as the demons began to attack them again. She cast a spell, aiming her hand at the leading demon. Tongues of bright red flames shot out from her fingers, hitting the eredar in the chest and branched out to hit others on either side of it. They fell, writhing in pain as fire consumed their bodies.

"Nock your arrows!" commanded Sylvanas. "Aim! Fire!"

A shower of arrows fell onto the demons, enhanced by various spells that spellcasters put on them. Some of them exploded into arcane energies when they hit the demons, while others exploded in raging fire. Others still extinguished fel fire elementals that had been summoned by eredar mages.

"You have trained your forces well," said Vol'jin as he threw a spear into an oncoming doomguard.

Sylvanas smiled, releasing two arrows at once, "Faith had more to do with that than I did, which is why she's a general now."

A nod, "We should move away from the crash site. I think there be more demons out there we can take care of."

"Lead the way, Warchief."

They began to move, decimating the demons all around them. There were too many of them, but the reinforcements made all the difference when it came to the fight. Scores of Legion forces fell before them as they reached a wide area with metallic cages welded into the ground.

"By the Light," whispered Faith as she broke open one of the cages with her blade. A man was inside, severely injured. He looked at her and Sylvanas in terror, gasping and attempting to move away from them.

"This is Argent Crusade insignia," said Sylvanas, kneeling. She put a gentle hand on the man's shoulder, "Can you speak? What happened here?"

"I didn't even know the Argent Crusade had come to the Broken Shore," said Faith.

"The man took a shuddering breath, "They… they t-took Lord Tirion. This was s-supposed… supposed t-to be a recon mission."

"They  _took Tirion_?" cried Faith. "Where?"

The man said nothing else, his eyes staring unseeingly at them.

Sylvanas shook her head, "This is not good," she whispered.

" _Not good_? Sylvanas –."

Getting up quickly, Sylvanas put both her arms around Faith in a brief hug, "I know. We'll find him."

Sylvanas' embrace might have been brief, but it was enough to keep Faith's panic from completely overwhelming her. She closed her eyes for a moment and stepped away from the queen and looked towards the fighting soldiers, "Free as many of the prisoners as you can!" she called.

The battle raged on. Over fifty Argent Crusade soldiers were freed, but it was too late for several others. Faith's heart broke for her Crusade companions, remembering the times she'd spent with them at Hearthglen. But she kept going. There would be plenty of time to mourn the deceased later.

"Looks like they're pulling back," said Thrall after what felt like hours. "Or at least they've stopped attacking this part of the island."

"Maybe we scared them off," said a goblin rogue who was standing close to them.

Sylvanas shook her head, "No. This was too easy."

"You think this was  _easy_?"

Sylvanas glanced down at him, raising an eyebrow.

"She's right," said Faith. "With the number of demons we were facing, we should have all been killed. But not only were we able to kill over a thousand of their forces, but we were able to free our prisoners."

Vol'jin pointed to a spot above them, over yet another ridge, "Look over there," he said.

As one, they all turned their heads to the area he was pointing at.

"Is that Gul'dan?" asked Baine, sounding surprised.

It was. Leering down at them, held up in midair by swirling fel energies, he laughed. Taunting them.

There was no way to get to him. There had been a mountain pass, but it had been shattered, making it impossible to use.

"Anybody have any idea how we're gonna get across this thing?" asked Sylvanas, nodding towards the chasm that lay before them.

"I may have something," said Thrall, smiling slightly. He walked to the edge of the chasm and raised his arm, chanting words that reminded Faith of plains, winds, and mountains. A few minutes later, floating rocks had formed a passageway from them to where Gul'dan waited. "After you."

Sylvanas laughed. "Convenient." She moved forward, making sure Faith was right next to her. "Looks like the Alliance found a way up as well."

"Good," said Vol'jin. "We can attack him from two sides."

* * *

Gul'dan chuckled. He saw the forces of the Horde and the Alliance making their way to him, and was supremely unconcerned about it. He knew their end was near.

He watched as they fought more insignificant demons who attempted to bar their way. Dozens of them. Void lords, imps, felhounds, and a couple of wrathguards he could afford to spare. He had thousands more waiting for his orders, enough to kill everyone on the island.

His chuckle turned into laughter.

* * *

"Gul'dan!" cried Sylvanas as they reached him. Faith grabbed her arm just in time to keep her from falling into a pool of some kind of fel liquid that gave off a heat as intense as lava.

The orc warlock turned to look at them, his laughter washing over them like a malefic wave.

"Is this who you're looking for?" he asked, snapping his fingers once. "Come, my minion!"

Something rose out of the fel, a creature so monstrous none of them had a name for it. It was definitely a demon, but nothing any of them had ever seen before. It was massive, as tall as a fel reaver, and seemingly unperturbed by the heat of the pool it was standing in. In its hand, it held a struggling figure.

"Tirion!" cried Faith.

"Highlord!" screamed Varian from the other side of the pool where he was standing with the rest of the Alliance.

"By the Earth Mother," whispered Baine, his eyes wide. "How are we supposed to kill that thing and get Tirion away from it?"

"All together, I think," said Vol'jin.

"We have to get Gul'dan too," Sylvanas told them. "He must be a priority."

"If you can get to him without going through that monster, be my guest," said Thrall.

Gul'dan was still laughing. "None of you will get out of here alive," he said. His gaze cut to Tirion, "Least of all you."

"Step… back!" came Tirion's feeble voice. "It's a trap! The… the Light will pro-protect me…"

"You fool!" called the orc. "What a pity your friends arrived just in time to watch you  _die_. Destroy him, Krosus."

The demon who was holding him squeezed his fingers, and even from where they stood, all of them heard the sickening crunch of bones. Tirion screamed.

" _No_!" wailed Faith. "Tirion!" She made to go to him, but Sylvanas wrapped both her arms around her, holding her back.

"No, Faith,  _no_. He's gone."

Jaina's anguished cry reached their ears as the demon carelessly released Tirion's lifeless body, which fell into the green pool.

Faith gave a scream of rage and cast the first spell that came to her mind, a devastating ball of arcane energy that exploded out of the palm of her hand and hit the demon on the shoulder. A second later, Jaina had launched her own attack, a second arcane spell that hit Krosus in the eyes. The demon roared.

"Don't just stand there, Krosus! Kill them! Kill them now!"

It was a scene out of people's deepest nightmares. Krosus launched himself towards the Alliance while sending a wave of fel lava over the Horde. To their horror, the lava coalesced into beings of fire that began attacking them.

"Heads up!" cried Sylvanas as an enormous fel creature that looked like a wolf's skeleton held together by fire, launched itself at her. Faith put up her hands just in time to create a strong shield that protected both of them from the wolf. Using her blade, she hacked the skeleton's head off its body, kicking it back into the lava.

Shouts and cries accompanied the battles on both sides of the lava pit. The Alliance tried time and again to slay Krosus, but were unable to do so on their own, and the Horde was unable to help while felfire monsters kept attacking them.

Krosus let out a monstrous bout of laughter, waving his arm once and sending all the members of the Alliance back as though they were nothing but flies. At the same time, more monsters came out of the lava, launching themselves at Varian and his companions.

"He's coming your way, Windrunner!" he called.

"Good! We'll finish him off!"

She sounded a lot more confident than she felt. She was scared. Scared for Faith, for her people, and for Azeroth as a whole. Would they be able to defeat such a demon?"

"Sylvanas, look!" said Faith, squeezing her hand. "Look at the side of his face!"

"The side of…" she focused her gaze, and saw that the Alliance, while not having managed to defeat Krosus, had nevertheless wounded him. A large gash ran the entire length of his cheek from his ear to his chin. "Focus on that!" she called.  _If it can be wounded, it can be killed!_

Back and forth it went, for over half an hour. They cast spell after spell, sent spears, arrows, and daggers at the demon as it toyed with them, attacking one side, then the other while sending waves of felfire demons at them.

They were all getting tired. Whatever draining magic the Burning Legion had woven upon the Broken Shore was making it much more difficult for them to fight. Spellcasting took longer, shots weren't quite as accurate as they should have been.

But in the end, the relentless will of the Horde and the Alliance combined into a force that even Gul'dan's minion was unable to defeat. With a final cry, the wound on his face having widened to encompass his entire neck and left shoulder, Krosus fell on the Alliance side of the pit with an almighty crash and lay still.

Faith was on her knees, arms shaking and feeling as though she'd never be able to get up again. Next to her, Vol'jin was sitting down, wiping at his brow and breathing heavily.

"Gul'dan… got away," he panted.

"We'll get to him," Sylvanas told him, looking at where the Alliance was. They seemed just as exhausted as the rest of them. "We have to keep moving! Who knows what else they're going to throw at us!"

Faith looked up at her, "I don't think we can, Sylvanas. That fight took everything out of me."

 _You defeated Arthas, and you're telling me you can't go on?_  She knelt in front of Faith, taking her chin in her hand. "I know you're tired. And I know you're scared. But Faith, you are the general of Undercity and of the Horde. I'm counting on you.  _Azeroth_  is counting on you."

Sylvanas was counting on her.

"You're not about to let the Burning Legion take our home again," she continued. She got up, turning away from Faith and beginning to walk away.

Faith blinked. She couldn't let Sylvanas down. Using every ounce of strength she had, she got back to her feet, shaking from head to toe. She cast a minor spell on herself to give herself a modicum of strength, and took a step forward, then another.

Others began to do the same.

"Come on, you guys," she told them. "We're not done yet. We can still do this. For Tirion. For Azeroth."

"For Azeroth," repeated Vol'jin, getting to his feet as well.

Sylvanas turned around, proud of her girl. Oh, she could feel her exhaustion, and had she been alive, there was no doubt that she would have already succumbed to it. But there she was, giving courage even to the warchief and chieftain of the tauren.  _That's my girl_ , she thought.

The Alliance was also moving, albeit just as slowly.

"We have to stop Gul'dan!" cried Varian.

"And we will!" she responded. "We'll take the ridge and cover your flank."

Varian gave a nod. "Sylvanas, thank you."

"Good luck, Varian."

"And you."

She turned back to see that Thrall, Faith, and Atalo had created another bridge of earth and rocks to help them get to where Gul'dan had disappeared to.

"Let's go!" she called. "Healers, if you have any spells to help us fight this fatigue, we'd greatly appreciate it."

A couple of druids who had shapeshifted themselves into trees cast a few spells over anybody they could reach. It wasn't much, but it helped them cross this new bridge with renewed vigor, allowing them to reach the ridge that overlooked their final objective.

The Tomb of Sargeras.

It was literally crawling with demons. The sky above them was littered with fel bats that Sylvanas ordered shot down immediately while Faith focused the spellcasters on the demons that were in the Alliance's way.

Varian stepped forward to confront Gul'dan, who was simply standing there, seemingly waiting for them.

"There is nowhere to run, Gul'dan! Give up now, and we will grant you a swift death!"

"Run?" laughed the warlock. "You are right, pathetic human. There is nowhere to run from my master. Now witness the true might of Lord Sargeras!" He raised his left arm, pointing his finger at the Alliance. As he did so, a wave of demons surged forward from the tomb.

"Fire!" called Faith, sending a wall of arcane energy towards the demons. Next to her, Hamuul Runetotem sent down what appeared to be a beam of moonlight that mingled with Faith's spell. As both of them hit, the ground beneath the demons' feet exploded into light, incinerating ten of them where they stood.

"We have company!" cried Sylvanas.

Faith turned her head in time to see a dozen demonic portals opening up twenty feet behind them. Eyes widening in horror, she quickly redirected the spellcasters towards the horde of demons coming for them.


	44. Chapter 44

_Belore... they're everywhere._

Sylvanas stared, aghast, as demons began to pour through the portals, catching them completely by surprise. At first, there were twenty. A second later, that number had doubled. And suddenly, there were over a hundred of them, swarming towards them. Huge wrathguards. Scores of imps. Eredars and void lords, felbats and felhounds, skeletal fel wolves and infernals.

For a moment, she was completely overwhelmed, her senses nearly shutting down in panic as she saw several Horde soldiers falling immediately to the new attack.

Then, suddenly, she felt someone's hand in hers. Faith's. There was a squeeze. A whispered "I love you" in her ear. She looked over at her, suddenly wanting to kiss her, to hold her and take her far away from this hell they'd walked into.

Her focus returned. She had to keep Faith safe.

"Hold the line!" she cried. "Fight back, now! For Azeroth!" She fired several arrows into the oncoming demons, and her dark rangers did the same. Faith cast spells over the arrows, enhancing their accuracy and their damage. She encased several demons within blocks of ice, thus allowing others to kill them. She turned fel bats into arcane projectiles, hurtling them towards the imps, killing dozens of them in one go.

There were too many of them.

Sylvanas snapped her head back to see how the Alliance was faring. They were still fighting hard, hundreds of demons lying dead at their feet. But more were coming.

More were coming.

Baine was battling fiercely against a monstrous wrathguard who was twice his size. He fell to one knee and Faith cast the strongest spell she could over him to protect him from the next blow. Cursing, she leaped into the fray before Sylvanas could even stop her. A moment later, she had killed the wrathguard, burying her spellblade into its neck.

"Pull Baine back to me!" Sylvanas called to her.

"Come on, Chieftain," said Faith, taking his hand just as a tauren brave came up to them and put an arm around him. "We've got you." They pulled him behind the front lines, away from the fight.

"I can't… anymore…" he panted.

Faith nodded. Everywhere she looked, she saw their forces close to death as they tried to fight an enemy that was just too much for them to handle.

"They come faster than we can kill them!" she cried.

"Then kill them faster!" snapped Sylvanas to her, reaching for another arrow and realizing that she no longer had any. "Damn it."

"I got you covered, love," said Faith, quickly performing a spell to bring spent arrows back to her. There were eighty in total, all imbued with magic. Sylvanas stared at her in shock, and Faith allowed herself a small smile before she focused back on the battle.

The air above them suddenly shimmered.

"Incoming!" cried someone.

Sylvanas looked up, horrified to see Legion ships appearing above their heads. They weren't huge, about the size of a zeppelin, but she could only imagine the firepower they wielded.

One of the ships fired, and Faith cried out a warning as she noticed that Thrall was about to be hit. She cast a protective barrier and was joined by Atalo and Hamuul, who kept up the shield as best they could.

"Thrall!" Garia fought her way to the Horde's former warchief as he fell to his knees, his skin turning from green to an ashen gray.

"Garia! Get him out of there!" shouted Baine. "By An'she…"

Garia was pulling Thrall back, and Vilak went to help her. Several members of the First Magi Corps kept up a constant stream of magical attacks to keep demons off them as they retreated back to Faith and Sylvanas.

"We can't go on like this, Sylvanas, we're on the defensive!"

Sylvanas was acutely aware of that. A glance back to the Alliance confirmed that they were in the same boat. She ordered another volley of arrows, glad to see all of them hitting their marks.

She was about to order a signal to the Alliance when Faith shrieked. It was a shriek of agony that echoed over the entire ridge, filled with pain and anguish.

" _Atalo_!"

Sylvanas turned just in time to see Faith's tauren father falling as an eredar thrust a blade into his chest.

* * *

Atalo.

_By the Titans, no!_

Sylvanas' body went rigid with shock. Faith was screaming and fighting against Baine, who was trying to keep her from going to him.

She took several steps forward but found herself restrained as well. A part of her mind knew that even if she'd been able to go to him, she would have been too late, for as she watched, the eredar pulled the blade out of Atalo and thrust it into his abdomen. Blood flew.

She let out a wail, tears falling from her eyes. It couldn't be possible.

"Atalo!" cried Faith. " _Atalo_!"

"He's… he's dead, Faith," said Baine, sounding stricken. "I'm so sorry."

"NO! No,  _no_! He can't be dead,  _you can't be dead, Atalo_!"

That scream broke through Sylvanas' shock. She shook off whoever was holding her back – Garia – and grabbed Faith, pulling her into her arms.

"Baby… baby, it's okay. It's going to be okay."

"It's NOT!"

"Faith, my love, you can't fall apart now, you can't… please, honey, I beg you, pull yourself together for a little longer."

Faith looked at her, the orange glow of her eyes temporarily dimmed. She wanted to say something, but couldn't. Memories sped through her mind – hunting with Atalo, hugging him, smelling the warmth of his fur and feeling his strong arms around her waist, lifting her clear off the ground.

It wasn't possible.

"I love you," said Sylvanas to her. "Baine, here – take her for a minute." She handed Faith to him and turned towards the embattled Horde army. Vol'jin was near, and he looked at her, opening his mouth to issue an order.

Except he never got the order out. The words got stuck in his throat as searing pain radiated from his back into his chest, burning deep. Looking down, he saw the tip of a demonic polearm protruding from his belly. For a moment, he couldn't comprehend what he was looking at. That didn't belong there.

"Warchief!" called Sylvanas as he fell, semi-conscious. He heard Faith screaming his name as well and had the time to wonder how much more the girl could take before she completely lost her mind.

Sylvanas whistled and a skeletal horse came to her, one that the reinforcements had brought with them.

Leaping on top of it, she pulled Faith up behind her and galloped down to where Vol'jin lay. One of his tusks had broken off, the wound he had sustained bleeding copiously. The wrathguard died when Sylvanas shot a flaming black arrow at it, incinerating it.

Getting down from her horse, she knelt and picked Vol'jin up, "You're all right, Warchief," she told him. "Let's get you fixed up."

He looked up at her, blinking, "Do… not… let da Horde… dis day," he wheezed.

Sylvanas turned her eyes towards Faith, noticing that fear was naked on her face and mingling with a grief so absolute that it darkened her eyes with each passing second.

They were dying. She didn't want to admit it, but it was true. They'd killed plenty of demons, but many of their own forces had also perished.

They couldn't stay there.

Hating what she was doing, remembering another time when a battle had gone horribly wrong, she sounded the retreat. She waited a moment, seeing her Val'kyr seemingly appear out of nowhere to pick up Baine, Thrall, and Hamuul.

"Sylvanas!" exclaimed Faith. "The Alliance!"

She blew the horn again, louder this time, hoping that Varian's people would hear it and retreat as well.

They had no choice.

"They'll see us leave," she told Faith, hoisting Vol'jin onto the horse and climbing back up herself.

Feeling anguished, Faith conjured a signal into the sky – a white bird in flight, praying that Varian would see it and pull his forces back. She held on to Sylvanas tightly as they galloped away from the battlefield. She looked around to make sure that everyone was evacuating with them and saw that the Horde soldiers were retreating, the demons hot on their trail.

"Sylvanas, they're not all going to make it, stop," she said.

Sylvanas ignored her.

"Let me down!"

"No! I'm not leaving you behind!"

"Stop for a second, Sylvanas, I mean it or I'll jump off."

Sylvanas gave a frustrated scream and stopped the mount abruptly enough for the creature to skid forward several feet before it came to a halt. "What?"

They'd come halfway down the mountain, giving them a good vantage point over the retreating forces of the Horde. Faith began to cast a spell.

"Can your magic reach that far?"

Faith nodded grimly, focusing her magic to create a shimmering barrier of silver mist. The first few Horde soldiers passed through it without any problem, but as soon as one of the felbats attempted it, it crashed against it and fell to the ground, stunned. "It won't hold long, but it'll give them a better chance."

"Good job." Sylvanas pushed the skeletal horse into a gallop again, and they suddenly found themselves onto the beach, where they saw four Horde ships anchored in the bay. She made straight for the Forsaken ship, and the Horde soldiers on the beach stared as she raced up the ramp.

Faith leaped off the horse and made for the edge of the ship, calling out to the soldiers, "We're retreating! Make sure the others make it back!"

"Faith! I need help with the warchief!" said Sylvanas.

Tears running down her face, Faith went to her and helped her get Vol'jin to the captain's cabin.

"Stay here, love. I'll make sure the rest of the Horde gets out."

A nod. Sylvanas left, and Faith remained alone with Vol'jin, whose blood was staining the bedcovers a dark red. He was shaking, his skin growing paler and paler by the second. Quickly, she opened one of the cabinets and took out a first-aid supply kit, which she'd ordered installed on every Forsaken ship.

There were bandages inside, but they were much too flimsy to do any good on the kind of wound Vol'jin was dealing with. Likewise, the potion ingredients there wouldn't make anything powerful enough to heal him, but maybe she could come up with something that would help with his pain.

"Okay, Vol'jin, I need to stop the bleeding, so I'm going to use a spell on you, all right?"

He looked at her, his gaze unfocused. "I trust you," he whispered.

She got to work, using magic to enlarge the bandages and wrap them tightly around Vol'jin's wounds. The bandages were cold and enchanted to act as compresses and although it wasn't much, it was the best she could do while she waited for a more competent healer.

Luckily, she had better luck with the potion. The ingredients she had in the first aid supplies were kept fresh by yet another spell, and within five minutes, she had a brew ready for him.

"This should help with the pain, Vol'jin. Please drink it."

He nodded weakly and drank when she put the goblet to his lips. Wincing and coughing, he managed to take all of it in.

Sylvanas ran back into the cabin, followed by Hamuul, who immediately started weaving healing spells on the warchief. "What did you give him?" she asked.

"A golden sansam brew to help with the pain. I didn't have anything strong enough to deal with wounds of this caliber. Did everyone make it back?"

"Everyone who wasn't killed by the demons. Your spell worked well enough to keep the Legion off our backs." She left the cabin again, taking Faith's hand, "We're about to leave, we're just waiting for everyone else to get onboard."

They were back on deck, where healers were tending to the wounded. The ship began to move, and as it did, something inland seemed to explode, sending out a jet of fel green light into the sky. Sylvanas staggered and Faith caught her.

"What's wrong?"

"Varian's dead," she said.

Varian… no. "What?! No… How can you know that?"

Sylvanas nodded towards the side of the mountain, where a Val'kyr was flying towards them. She focused for a second, "There was a massive fel reaver that caught Varian as he was boarding the Alliance airship. He… he didn't make it."

"No, but… Sylvanas…"

She looked at her squarely. "He's dead."

* * *

Dead.

Varian Wrynn was dead.

And Sylvanas was going to have to live with the fact that she had left him there to die.

On the lowest deck of the ship, hidden away from everyone in a small storage space, she stared at the floor as the sheer weight of what had happened began to crush her.

Tirion. Atalo.

Varian.

The High King of the Alliance was dead because she hadn't been able to hold that ridge.

"It wasn't your fault, Sylvanas."

She looked up.

Faith was standing in the doorway. Her face was cloaked in shadows, but Sylvanas could feel the anguish within her.

She opened her arms, and Faith stumbled into them, shaking.

"I'm sorry Faith. Oh, I'm so sorry…"

Faith's chin trembled, "He's dead… Sylvanas, he's really dead…"

A tear dried to dust on her cheek. "I didn't mean to put him on the front line… he always seemed so strong. He was a mountain, and he…" Sylvanas suddenly burst into tears, sinking to her knees and dragging Faith with her.

He had taken Faith in after Quel'Thalas had fallen. He had reminded her of what it was like to have a family. He had loved her like his own daughter. And he had accepted Sylvanas as well, exactly as she was, banshee queen and all.

She sobbed. The sound was broken, unreal. Faith held her, her face a mask of shock, feeling as though waves were pulling her to an unfathomable abyss.

Atalo was dead. Dead. Gone.

He would never again call her his sun child…

Sylvanas' vice grip on Faith's body relaxed little by little as the flow of her tears began to abate. This grief surprised her – she had lost a lot of friends and family members over the years. She'd watched Faith –  _Faith_  – die. She thought she'd be able to take any death after that. This one, however, had stunned her. Atalo had always seemed so solid. So present. She hadn't bothered to worry about him because she'd never considered the possibility of his death…

She pulled away from Faith a little, scrutinizing her face. Tears were drying instantly on her cheeks, leaving dusty tracks there, but she seemed very composed otherwise. "I love you."

Faith blinked, a few more teardrops clinging to her eyelashes. "I love you." She kissed her gently. "What are we going to do?"

Sylvanas shook her head. She had absolutely no idea how to fix any of it. Her instincts told her to take Faith and run, run as far as possible until they found a corner of the world untouched by troubles. Kissing Faith's forehead, she wiped the dust off her cheeks while Faith did the same for her. "We'll get through this together, I promise."

"How am I supposed to tell Hamu and Taisha about this, Sylvanas?"

"I'll be with you. Lean on me." She pressed Faith to her chest again, "Hold on to me, Faith. Don't let go. Don't let go."

* * *

Their journey back to Durotar lasted less than expected, due to the shaman and druids using the power of nature to hurry the ships along.

Faith stayed by Vol'jin's side as much as possible, making potions to help with his pain, but it was obvious to her he wasn't doing well at all, even with Hamuul and a Sin'dorei priest working on him.

"The wound simply won't close," said Hamuul, taking her aside. "I've tried everything I can on it, but there's some kind of poison making its way through his veins. It's a powerful one."

"We've always been able to neutralize Burning Legion poisons before…" she whispered to him.

"Before, yes. Not this time, Faith. This is something new. It feels like a living thing that's attacking him and resisting all of our efforts to heal him. We've tried the Light, we've tried nature… the only thing we haven't tried is necromancy."

"Necromancy doesn't neutralize venom," she hissed. "It may close his wound, but it may do more harm than good if we can't get rid of whatever's coursing through his veins."

"Come take a look at this," he said, walking back to the warchief, who was asleep on the bed. Slowly, carefully, he unwrapped the bandages covering Vol'jin's abdominal wound.

Faith nearly screamed. The edges of the wound were black. Not bruised, but inky black, as though the skin there had been coated in coal dust. Delicate tendrils of green reached out from the wound, indeed looking like living things, staining more of the skin black. "It didn't look like that when I applied the bandages to him," she said.

"We know," said the priest. "His back is even worse."

She cursed and immediately left the cabin, finding Sylvanas on deck, stitching a Forsaken's arm to his shoulder.

"Sylvanas, we have a problem," she said in Thalassian.

Sylvanas glanced at her, "Just the one?"

"Hamuul can't seem to heal Vol'jin… he's dying."

"I know."

Faith stared at her. "You  _know_?"

"Of course I know. We've already lost four soldiers on this ship due to the damned poison the Legion used this time around. I'm willing to bet there are more deaths on the other ships." She finished working on the Forsaken's arm and stood up, "I don't have the means here to brew an antidote for this kind of poison. And even if I did, it would take days to do, and you know it."

"But –."

Sylvanas put a hand on her shoulder, "Honey. I know."

"We can't just let him die…"

"Do you have the means to go home, get the entire Royal Apothecary Society together, have them analyze the poison and find an antidote in time to help him? If you do, please tell me, because I have no way of doing it at the moment."

"I could –."

"You could what? Make a portal to go home? Yes, you could do that, but how exactly would you get back here? At best, you'll end up in the water. At worst, you'll land in the Maelstrom and be killed. Even you can't make a portal back to a moving ship, Faith, and I wouldn't let you try. We'll be in Durotar tonight. In the meantime, we're doing what we can with what we have."

Faith blinked, wanting to say something, but unable to. She opened her mouth, only to close it again. "Sylvanas… it's Vol'jin…" she finally managed.

A slow nod, "Yes. And it was Tirion. And Atalo. And Varian. And everyone else we've ever lost. We're doing everything we can to help. Sometimes that's enough to save someone's life. Sometimes, it isn't. It's just the way things are."

_But I don't want things to be this way_ … thought Faith, turning away from Sylvanas to look at the horizon line. The sun was starting to set. She felt Sylvanas moving behind her, wrapping her arms around her waist and kissing the tip of her right ear.

"I know you don't. Believe me, if I could, I'd protect everyone you love to keep them from being killed. But I've had to come to terms with the limitations of my very existence. I'm not a goddess, honey, no matter how much you may think I am, and there are some things even I can't prevent." She kissed the back of her neck, "I couldn't stop you from dying, could I?"

"But you brought me back."

"That was purely for selfish reasons, and I still hate myself for it. Are you suggesting I bring Vol'jin back when he dies?"

Faith shook her head, not bothering with a verbal answer to that question.

"Go. See if you can help Hamuul with anything."

"I think we need Thrall."

"Thrall is on the ship behind us, and he's injured himself. Go, love."

She went, leaving Sylvanas on the deck. She felt numb, her thoughts fading into nothingness as she made her way back to where Vol'jin was.

Hamuul met her at the door. "He's asking for you."

"Thanks, Hamuul. How's he doing?"

He shook his head, "Honestly, he's not going to make it if we don't get him more help."

"Sylvanas says we'll be in Durotar soon."

"Let's hope we make it there in time to make a difference."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.
> 
> Lunarelle


	45. Chapter 45

In time to make a difference. Faith thought a lot about that sentence in the days that followed.

What did it mean exactly? Was it best to keep someone alive, even if that life would be cursed and in pain? Or was it better to let someone go into the cold embrace of death to make way for new life?

The four ships made it to Orgrimmar under the cover of darkness. They carried Vol'jin off the ship first while shaman and priests were called from all over Durotar. Faith made a portal to Silvermoon to go get Lady Liadrin, who had remained behind with Lor'themar.

"What happened out there?" she demanded as they landed in Orgrimmar again.

"The worst defeat I've experienced since the Scourge invaded Quel'Thalas, that's what. Varian Wrynn didn't make it."

"No!" cried Halduron.

"Yeah. It was bad. We lost more than half the people we'd brought with us. I can explain later."

They entered Grommash Hold to find that Thrall was working on Vol'jin despite not looking great himself.

Sylvanas grabbed her hand as she walked by, "Honey, Hamu and Ishaka are here with Taisha."

Faith's face somehow paled. She remembered belatedly that they had decided to come to the city to welcome them home after the battle. "Baby… I don't know if I can…"

"You have to. I'll be right with you. Come on."

They went back outside, where they saw a crowd gathered. Faith had no problem picking out Hamu out, and saw him smile when he noticed her and Sylvanas. He looked relieved.

"Sylvanas…"

She squeezed her hand, "I'm right here."

They walked down the steps, and people immediately began to ask them questions.

"How's the warchief?"

"What happened?"

"Are you guys okay?"

"How many demons were there?"

Faith winced.

"It didn't go well," said Sylvanas. "Not at all. Excuse us for a moment."

People let them pass when they saw the look on Faith's face. She sought Taisha with her eyes, tears falling and drying on her cheeks. She saw Taisha gasp. Next to her, Hamu's eyes widened. He took a step back.

"No!" he bellowed. "No!"

Taisha was shaking her head, her soft brown eyes closing. Ishaka was staring at her. She held Sylvera in her arms, and suddenly buried her head in her fur, her shoulders shaking.

Faith reached them, incapable of speaking.

"He's dead?" asked Taisha. "My Atalo is dead?"

Sylvanas gave a nod. "We couldn't get to him… there were too many demons. I'm so sorry, Taisha."

"What good is that?" cried Hamu.

"Brother –," began Faith.

The sound of a hand hitting flesh resounded across the Valley of Honor. Faith fell with the force of the blow and Sylvanas snarled, unsheathing her blade before her rational mind had intervened.

Taisha cried out. " _Hamu_! Sylvanas, please don't…"

Faith reached for Sylvanas, saying her name, and the queen responded to her, kneeling next to her, cupping her face with her free hand.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"No. But that's not why."

Hamu was walking away quickly. Neither Taisha or Ishaka made to follow him, but Sylvanas got to her feet, meaning to go after him.

"Sylvanas, no – let him go. He's grieving."

"He hit you."

"He didn't mean to. He just lashed out because I was the most convenient person there."

"You're grieving too, and I don't see you going around hitting people!"

Faith got back up, "Sylvanas. Please." She took a few steps to Taisha, who opened her arms and held her. "I'm sorry, Taisha. He was protecting Thrall when it happened, and a demon just… Sylvanas and I were too far away, we couldn't get to him."

Taisha looked at her, tears leaking into the fur around her eyes, "He died while keeping Thrall safe. That is a noble death, one that our ancestors will be… will be proud of." With that, she burst into sobs, and it was all Faith could do to keep herself from completely falling apart.

"Do you… do you have his body?" asked Ishaka. "So that we can have a funeral?"

Sylvanas shook her head, "There was no way for us to get the bodies of the fallen. We were overrun and had to get out of there very quickly." She didn't voice the thought she had about how the Burning Legion necromancers were probably going to raise Atalo into undeath. She didn't think anybody would be able to stomach that idea.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder, Eitrigg, who was looking very grave indeed. "Lady Sylvanas."

"What is it?" she asked him quietly.

"I'm sorry, but the warchief is asking for you and Faith."

She nodded and put a gentle hand on Faith's back, "Faith. Vol'jin needs us, sweetheart."

Faith slowly disengaged herself from Taisha, "I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"

Taisha's nod was barely perceptible, "I'll go find Hamu. I think he needs me."

"He needs all three of you," Sylvanas told her. "Go to him. We'll come find you in a while." She watched them go for a moment before taking Faith's hand again and turning back towards Grommash Hold.

* * *

Vol'jin was dying. Faith knew it in her heart, and yet nothing could have prepared her for seeing him slumped over the high chair, the bandage on his abdomen soaked with blood and green venom and his skin looking so pale it was no longer blue, but grey. He looked up when they entered.

"Windrunner," he said. "Come… forward. Faith too."

"Warchief."

"Da loa spirits say death will claim me soon. I am not long for this world."

Faith reached him and put a hand on his arm, "No. Vol'jin, you must hold on a little longer. We can help you…"

He turned his head to her, smiling slightly, "It is all right, Faith. You did everything you could." He coughed, and blood trickled from his lips, which Faith wiped away with her thumb. "You will help with getting da Horde back into Dalaran. We will be needing da Kirin Tor to fight da Legion."

"Whatever you need," she whispered.

His gaze moved to Sylvanas, "I never trusted you," he began slowly. "Dis one," he cocked his head towards Faith, "I trusted, and I trust her still. But you, Windrunner… I would have never imagined… in our darkest time… dat you…" he coughed again and refused a cup of water Baine was handing him. "Windrunner, I never imagined dat you would be da one to save us."

Sylvanas frowned, looking at Faith, then at him, saying nothing.

"Da spirits have granted me clarity," continued Vol'jin. "A vision. Dey whisper a name. Many will not understand, but you must step out of da shadows, and Faith will help you." He took a gasping breath. "You must… be… War… chief."

_Must be… what?_

Faith blinked and was about to ask for clarifications, when Vol'jin's body suddenly went limp in the chair. A wave of cold came over Grommash Hold and sadness seized Faith's heart.

He was dead.

Vol'jin.

Her friend.

She looked at Sylvanas, who was staring unblinkingly at Vol'jin's body. At Baine and Thrall, both of whom looked shattered. At Gallywix, who was glancing repeatedly at Sylvanas. At Lor'themar, and finally, at Ji, both of whom didn't seem to know what to do.

Vol'jin had made Sylvanas Warchief of the Horde.

* * *

Sylvanas didn't move as Thrall and the others covered Vol'jin with a sheet and carried him out of Grommash Hold. She didn't move as Faith came to her, trembling from head to toe, and squeezed her shoulder, murmuring a few words to her.

She didn't move for a long time.

Warchief. She was warchief.

* * *

The world was off-balance.

Vol'jin was dead. He had made Sylvanas warchief.

Sylvanas Windrunner,  _her Sylvanas_ , was warchief of the Horde.

And Vol'jin was dead.

Without any clear idea of what she was doing, she created a portal to Undercity and stepped through it, landing on her knees in the throne room. The familiar sight soothed her right away, easing the unbearable tension in her body.

"Faith!"

It was Rotvine. He was standing next to Sylvanas' chair with Nathanos, and the two of them came running to her.

"What happened? We heard there had been some disaster at the Broken Shore! Is Sylvanas all right? What about the warchief?"

Faith blinked, and after a while, told them what the situation was.

"Vol'jin and Varian are dead?" asked Nathanos. "And Tirion Fordring?"

"Three of the most powerful leaders on Azeroth, that's right," mumbled Faith. "Oh… and Atalo."

" _What_?" cried Rotvine.

"Your tauren father…"

A nod.

"Faith… I'm so sorry…" Rotvine hugged her. "Are you… of course you're not okay. What can we do? Where's Sylvanas?"

"Sylvanas? Right, she's the new warchief of the Horde."

Complete silence greeted her statement. Faith glanced up at them, nearly bursting into laughter at the identical looks of incredulous disbelief on their faces. Had she announced that Sylvanas had decided to marry Greymane, their reaction would have probably been similar.

It was Nathanos who spoke first, sounding a little stunned, "What are you doing here, then? You should be with her."

"I don't really know how I got here, to tell you the truth."

"You're in shock," said Rotvine, rubbing her back with a bony hand. "Come on, I'll make you a portal back to Orgrimmar."

Faith shook her head, "No. Let me grab a change of clothes for myself and for Sylvanas before I go back." She got up again and made her way through the winding corridor to her and Sylvanas' chambers. Tears were streaming down her face, and as soon as she closed the door behind herself, she fell onto the bed, bursting into sobs.

She didn't know how long she lay there crying. It was too much for her to handle, way too much. First Tirion, then Atalo, then Varian, and finally, Vol'jin. Four people she had known for years, constants in her life, had suddenly been taken away, and she couldn't…

The door opened quietly behind her, and someone came to lie down behind her, wrapping blissfully cold arms around her.

Sylvanas.

Faith immediately turned around, pressing herself closer to her. "Oh, Sylvanas…"

"Shhh," she said softly, getting on her back and gathering Faith on top of her. "It's all right, love."

"I'm sorry, S-Sylvanas… I'll b-be… I'll be o-okay in a minute."

She stroked Faith's hair, kissing her forehead, "Don't apologize. If you need to cry, go ahead. I'm not judging you."

It took some time, but Faith managed to calm herself down little by little. She remained in Sylvanas' arms as her shaking gradually subsided.

"Thanks," she said after a while. "I didn't expect you to come to me. How did you know where I was anyway?"

"My first duty is to you," said Sylvanas, kissing her lips softly. "I felt your pain, love, even across the ocean."

Faith shook her head, "Your first duty is to the Horde, not to me. You're warchief now." She propped herself up on one arm to look at her, "How do you feel about that?"

"I haven't untangled those emotions yet." She checked the clock on the mantelpiece, "We should be going back to Orgrimmar."

A slow nod, "We should probably change clothes first."

"That would require you getting off of me."

"Hey, you pulled me on top of you, I had nothing to do with it this time."

Sylvanas chuckled, "Come on."

They got up and got changed, Faith putting on one of her favorite robes, a hooded velvet one trimmed with black fur, while Sylvanas put on one of the outfits Faith had gotten for her, a black leather tunic that had been crisscrossed with delicate violet-colored mail and matching leggings. The outfit covered her from ankle to neck and was formfitting, yet allowed her plenty of freedom of movement.

"You sure know how to pick clothes for me," she whispered as she laced up her boots.

"I know what looks good on you, and that's the truth."

"I love you."

Faith looked at her and allowed herself a small smile, "I love you."

* * *

They found Orgrimmar unusually silent. People walked around quietly, some crying, others just looking lost. Saurfang was leaning against the wall of Grommash Hold, his eyes closed as though in prayer. Baine sat on the ground, his head in his hands. Next to him was Thrall, his blue eyes staring at nothing.

All of them looked up when Faith and Sylvanas walked back in.

"Are we ready?" asked Sylvanas.

"We were just waiting for you to anoint his body," said Lor'themar.

She nodded, "Let's go then." She released Faith's hand and led everyone out of Grommash Hold to where Vol'jin's body had been displayed just outside the entrance to the capital city of the Horde. "You and Baine should anoint the body," she said to Thrall. "You were closest to him." She handed him the pitcher of oil and stepped back to watch the proceedings.

Her throat felt oddly constricted. She hadn't always gotten along with the troll, but there was no denying the fact that he had been a good leader. Faith had respected him as much as his own people had, and she could tell by the look on her face that his loss was affecting her deeply.

It suddenly dawned on her that they had never lost a beloved warchief of the Horde. Sure, they had killed Garrosh, but most of the Horde had hated him in the end and had been more than happy to see Vol'jin replacing him.

But people had loved their new warchief, and the fact that he had picked her as his replacement was something that most people were going to have a hard time swallowing.

_Faith would have been the better choice_ , she said to herself. Vol'jin had said it himself, he had trusted her more than he'd ever trusted Sylvanas.

Moving slightly to stand next to her lover, she took her hand in hers, squeezing gently. Faith squeezed back, not looking at her, but relaxing a little.

They heard people crying, and both wondered what to do to comfort them.

"Walk up front with me," murmured Sylvanas to Faith as Baine and Thrall put the pitcher of oil back down, having finished anointing their friend's body.

Faith nodded, matching her pace to Sylvanas' as she walked towards the funeral pyre that had been readied for the fallen warchief. She felt her eyes filling with tears again, but kept them at bay – barely – thinking that she had cried enough. There would be plenty of time to mourn once they had defeated the Burning Legion.

_And how are we going to do that? This is the third time they've invaded Azeroth. It hasn't fully started yet and they've already killed three of our most prominent leaders._

Sylvanas looked at her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. "Light the pyre, please," she said softly once Vol'jin's body had been placed there.

Raising a hand and murmuring a spell, Faith conjured a normal fire for her old friend. Thanks to the oil, the flames caught quickly and merrily began to burn. She stepped back, leaving Sylvanas next to the pyre.

"Vol'jin, Warchief of the Horde, is dead," she said slowly. She turned around, facing the thousands of people who had turned up for the funeral and who were looking up at her, most with apprehension, others in awe. "Who among you will help me avenge him?"

The war cry was soft at first, almost inaudible. But as more people took it up, it turned into a roar that sent birds flying into the pre-dawn sky.

"Horde! Horde! Horde! HORDE! HORDE! HORDE!"

It went on for several minutes until the flames that had consumed Vol'jin's remains began to peter out. When things were quiet again, Sylvanas spoke.

"I know all of you are wondering what is going to happen now. You have a banshee as your warchief, and that scares you as much as the Burning Legion does. But I promise you that we will not rest until this threat has been eliminated and Azeroth is free once more. We  _will_  fight for our home. Azeroth will not fall!"

Another war cry rent the air.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we have very little time to do it. I want all of you to get ready for war. No matter what your role is in the Horde, whether you're a soldier or a floor sweeper, you have a part to play. We are going to need supplies, weapons, ammunition, clothes, and food. We will need to set up various bases around the Broken Isles, and we will need people to keep a close eye on the movements of the Burning Legion. We must liaise with the various organizations throughout Azeroth to come up with a plan of attack. We lost the battle at the Broken Shore, but we  _will not lose this war_! Are you with me?"

The cry was more deafening this time.

"I pledge myself to the Horde," she continued, unsheathing one of her blades and cutting the palm of her hand. The sun began to rise as blood dripped from her hand, "I pledge myself to all of you, as your new warchief. Will you pledge yourselves to me?" Her eyes found Faith's.

Faith nodded and went to her, taking the blade from her and cutting her own palm before taking Sylvanas' hand so that their blood could mingle. "Always," she said, kneeling in front of her and bringing her lips to Sylvanas' knuckles.

Behind her, everyone knelt. "To you, we pledge ourselves," they said. "For the Horde."


	46. Chapter 46

The sun had risen. Most people were going back into the city, but others remained standing where they were, looking at Faith and Sylvanas, who were still holding hands.

"What are you thinking, my queen?" asked Faith, brushing a lock of hair back under Sylvanas' hood.

"I'm thinking that we need to go home and talk to our people. We have to see how we can best prepare for war."

"You don't want to send anybody to Stormwind?"

"Stormwind? Whatever for?"

"To pay our respects to Varian."

"Did you see any members of the Alliance here with us, Faith? Because I sure didn't. We're grieving our own people in peace."

"Peace," came the voice of a deathguard who was standing nearby. "You will never have peace again. Azeroth belongs to us."

Suddenly, he lunged. His sword would have probably skewered Sylvanas had Faith not screamed and gotten in between them, parrying the weapon with her own. He kicked her in the stomach and lunged for Sylvanas again, but she was ready for him. With a flick of her wrist, she severed his head from his body, and he fell to the floor dead. As he did so, he transformed from a Forsaken to an eredar.

"By the  _Light_!" exclaimed Faith. She looked up. All around them, several of the Horde mourners began to transform into Burning Legion soldiers.

"To arms!" cried Sylvanas, her voice carrying all the way back to the city gates.

A wrathguard began to climb up the stairs to the pyre in order to get to Sylvanas, who sidestepped his attack. Faith reacted immediately, casting her black fire, which caught the demon in the face. With a bellow, it went running back down the stairs, igniting an eredar as it went past.

"My black fire doesn't work as well on the Burning Legion," she muttered.

"No, but it still does the job," Sylvanas told her. "I'll take it. Go! Make sure none of them got into the city!"

The last thing Faith wanted to do was leave Sylvanas on her own, but she had no choice in the matter. She went, casting spells in every direction in order to freeze demons in place for others to kill.

An unbelievable amount of demons had infiltrated the Orgrimmar forces. Faith killed an eredar who was about to decapitate a woman from behind, seeing Baine near the gates of the city, fighting two wrathguards at once. He caught her eye, and she plunged her blade in one of their necks, ending its life instantly.

"I've got this one," she said. "Please keep Sylvanas safe!"

He nodded and ran back to the funeral pyre while Faith took care of the second demon before she moved on to another group who was fighting. Already, soldiers lay dead on the ground, having been caught by surprise by the attack.

_This war hasn't even fully started and we've lost too many people to the Legion,_  she thought.

Luckily for them, not many demons had made it inside the city. The five that had managed to infiltrate were dead by the time Faith got there.

"Anybody else?" she asked Saurfang.

He shook his head, "No, I didn't see any. How many are left out there?"

"Too many. Make sure none of them make it inside, and send patrols around!" She ran back through the gates and found herself face-to-face with the biggest eredar she had ever seen. With violet skin and glowing tattoos covering most of his body, he carried an enormous black staff topped with a pulsating red and green crystal.

He grinned at her, "Oh, this one's dead," he said. "I look forward to bending your will to mine, pretty one."

Faith arched an eyebrow, "Try your best,  _demon_. But you'll find quickly that this is an undead you cannot control."

He cast a spell so blindingly fast that Faith was knocked off her feet before she'd even had a chance to blink. He cast again, bending Faith's spine in such a way that she shrieked in pain. It burned like liquid fire down her back, making her limbs seize.

"Bend to my will," he said calmly.

"N- _never_!" she cried, flinging out her hand and managing to send an ice lance into his eyes. It didn't do much, for he avoided the brunt of it, but it snapped his concentration, which caused him to lose the hold he'd had on her.

He started to laugh, "Is that the best you've got? Is that all you can –." He was interrupted by the shaking of the ground beneath his feet. A second later, vines of arcane energy shot out of the very earth, wrapping themselves around his legs, burning cloth and flesh. His face contorted in pain as Faith cast that same spell again, plunging her spellblade into the ground and chanting softly in old Thalassian.

Strong roots joined her arcane spell and Faith glanced up to see a tauren druid helping her. Together, the two of them were able to pull the eredar into the ground, completely burying him.

"Thank you, my friend," she told him as he helped her get back to her feet.

"Anytime, General."

The battle was over as quickly as it started. Still reeling, the survivors of the attack assessed the damage that had been wrought by the demons.

"Sixteen dead, forty wounded, eight of them critically," reported Lor'themar as he wiped blood off one of his daggers.

"It looks like they just wanted to send us a message," said Sylvanas when Faith got back to her.

Faith nodded, "They know where we are and how to find us. It could have been much worse."

"That won't be very comforting to the families of the deceased," said Baine.

"No," agreed Faith. "But what will be a comfort is knowing that their loved ones died to protect the Horde from the Burning Legion. They will be remembered as heroes."

They gathered the dead and brought them back into the city. Faith felt shattered as she watched yet more families torn apart, mourning their loved ones. She had no tears left to cry, but found herself on her own in the Valley of Spirits, looking up at the waterfall as she sat by the pond.

How had it come to this?

How had they ended up so far from the life they had originally built for themselves?

_The one you love is still with you_ , came a voice within her.

She gave a small smile. Was she really? Sylvanas was warchief of the Horde now. She was going to be busier than ever, and Faith didn't want to crowd her.

"I want you to crowd me."

Faith started, nearly falling into the water. "Do you enjoy scaring me to death?"

"Immensely." Sylvanas sat down next to her and kissed her neck. "You do realize that my being warchief isn't going to change anything between us."

"Sylvanas –."

Sylvanas shook her head, "It won't. It's not going to change how much we love each other. And you heard Vol'jin, he said you were going to help me."

"How am I supposed to do that? You want me to be your moral compass or something? I don't know if you've noticed, but that hasn't really worked well for us over the past few years."

"Hasn't it?"

"Southshore," said Faith simply.

"That's once." Sylvanas put a hand on the back of Faith's neck, massaging gently, "What are you thinking about?"

"The past twenty-odd years. How did we get here?" She leaned into her, "It seems like only yesterday you took me out hunting and we were attacked by that giant spider. Do you remember that day?"

There was a chuckle, "I remember. You were so nervous you could hardly shoot the tree I was having you practice on. The funny thing was that we both knew how we felt about each other."

"Yeah, but it was fun to pretend we didn't."

Sylvanas smiled, "Can't argue with that." She traced an invisible pattern over Faith's right leg, "And now here we are."

A slow nod, "Here we are. What do you want to do?"

"What I  _want_  to do is go home and forget about the past three days. But what I will do is take you to Thunder Bluff and have a memorial for Atalo and the other tauren braves who died during these two battles."

"You're the warchief now, Sylvanas. You can't show favoritism to any one faction."

"I'm not. You're my lover, and I'm going to go with you to this memorial. In turn, you'll accompany me to the memorial service we'll have here for the fallen orcs, goblins, pandaren and trolls, and to the services in Silvermoon and Undercity for the Sin'dorei and Forsaken."

"You're having a memorial for the fallen?" asked Faith. "All of them?"

"I am. I figure it's a good way to start behaving like a warchief."

Sylvanas suddenly found herself with Faith in her lap, arms and legs wrapped around her. "I love you," she whispered in her ear.

Smiling again, Sylvanas closed her eyes and let herself savor the feel of Faith in her arms.  _I love you_.

* * *

The first memorials were held in Orgrimmar that very evening. Garia and Vilak stood with Faith, the three of them watching as Sylvanas said a few words about the fallen and how they had sacrificed their very lives to keep the Burning Legion from decimating the rest of them.

The numbers were staggering. So many had died. None of their bodies had been recovered, because they'd all needed to retreat in such a hurry… it didn't feel right to know that their fellow Horde comrades would never enjoy eternal rest at home.

"Do you really think that the Burning Legion necromancers will raise them?" Garia asked her.

Faith nodded, "I hate to say it, because Atalo's body remained on the Broken Shore, but yes, I think so."

"Are we going to go out there to bring them back?" wondered Vilak.

"That'll only result in another five hundred deaths, which we can ill-afford right now."

"That can't make you happy…"

"It doesn't make anybody happy, Vilak, but there's nothing we can do about it now. We'll have to go back to the Broken Shore eventually, but it's not going to be now."

Sylvanas joined them, "You three seem to be awfully chatty during a time of grief," she said.

"I'm sorry, My Lady. Vilak was just asking me whether we were planning to recover the bodies that were left behind during the battle. It's hard to live with the fact that they're going to be turned into fodder for the Legion's necromancers."

"I know," said Sylvanas. "We'll get them back, I promise. But we have a lot of work to do before we go back in there. Faith, have you heard from your Argent Crusade friends?"

She nodded uncertainly, "I have. And Hamuul has heard from the Cenarion Circle."

"What did they say?"

Faith bit her lip, taking Sylvanas aside, "The Alliance feels that we left them there to die. They have absolutely no desire to ever work with us again."

"You sent a signal to them."

"Too late. Greymane especially thinks that we purposefully retreated so as to hurt the Alliance as much as possible."

Sylvanas snorted, "Greymane doesn't bother me."

"This is serious. He  _should_  bother you. He and Varian were close, Sylvanas, more than best friends if one were to believe the rumors that are apparently flying around Stormwind."

"What are you talking about?"

Faith just looked at her.

"No way. You're implying that they were  _lovers_? That's ridiculous."

"I'm not implying anything, I'm just telling you what I heard. Regardless of the rumors, I think you're going to find a lot of resistance from the Alliance from now on."

"I don't doubt that," said Sylvanas. "What do you suggest we do?"

"Let me go to Stormwind and talk to Anduin."

"I can't do that."

"Sylvanas –."

"No. You're not going to the Alliance."

"If you don't send me, it'll solidify their theory. Is that what you want? You want them to think that you betrayed them?"

"You were imprisoned in the Stockades last time you went to Stormwind. I won't let you go there again, and that's final. I'm sorry, Faith, but that's my final decision."

Faith shook her head, "You're wrong."

Sylvanas' eyes flashed.

"You're wrong," repeated Faith. "You're letting your personal feelings for me impede your judgement."

"This has  _nothing_  to do with –."

"Yes, it does! You think that if I go to Stormwind, they'll kill me. You wouldn't think twice about sending someone else, but because I'm your lover and I'm the one asking to go, you're refusing."

Sylvanas faced her fully, anger darkening her features, "You're out of order, General."

"Maybe I am, Warchief. But I honestly think you're making the wrong decision."

"Read my lips: you're  _not_  going."

Faith bowed her head, recognizing fully that she wasn't going to change Sylvanas' mind on this point. "As you wish, Warchief. I apologize, it wasn't my intention to challenge your orders."

"I asked for your opinion, and you gave it to me." She turned away from Faith and looked at Baine, "You should get ready to return to Thunder Bluff. We'll go by portal."

Baine bowed and walked away with Vilak and Garia, leaving Faith alone with Sylvanas.

"You can look at me, you know, I'm not going to kill you for being honest with me."

"I think you'd miss me if you killed me," said Faith quietly.

"I would," agreed Sylvanas. "Are you ready to go to Thunder Bluff?"

Faith shook her head. She didn't think she would ever be ready to say goodbye to Atalo. "Do I have to go?"

Sylvanas took her hand, leading her inside Grommash Hold, "You don't want to?"

"I can't, Sylvanas. I can't go to Red Rocks and say goodbye to Atalo. He could still be alive, right? Maybe he survived?" She let Sylvanas pull her close, then smiled sadly, "I know. We saw him die."

"It won't be easy. But you don't have to say anything, you can just feel everything you would have liked to tell him."

"Feel it?"

"You loved him, and he knew you did. He loved you too. You were his sun child."

His sun child.

"You can do this, and I'll be with you the whole time."

"Do you think Hamu will ever forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive, honey, you did nothing wrong."

"But if it hadn't been for me, he would have never been there."

"You don't know that, Faith, nobody can know that." She pulled Faith's hood down and ran her fingers over her face, her ears, and her lips, "Atalo was a compassionate being. He loved Azeroth, and he would have fought for it no matter what it took. Remember that about him. He acted the way a father would for his family." She kissed her cheek gently, "Take a moment, then join us outside in a few minutes."

* * *

Faith had no idea how she got through the memorial service in Mulgore. Stationed under a lone tree, away from the main throng of mourners, she stood with Rotvine, Garia, and Vilak, all of whom refused to leave her side. She would have stood with her tauren family, but Hamu still didn't want to be anywhere near her.

"It's unfair that he's taking this out on you," said Vilak.

"He can't lash out at the Burning Legion, and I make a convenient target," whispered Faith. "It's okay."

"But Sylvanas is about to say something," mentioned Rotvine. "She hates to see you treated this way."

"Sylvanas will keep quiet on this matter." She said nothing else on the subject, hoping that her brother would get over his anger and speak to her again, but she couldn't be sure of that. As the ceremony ended, he shot her a dark look.

"Are you coming?" asked Garia when everyone began to leave.

Faith nodded, "Go ahead, I'll be over in a bit."

She waited until she was completely alone before venturing closer to the ceremonial rocks. A tear rolled down her cheek, drying to dust there, then another as she knelt.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry you died, Father. I was nothing to you… and yet you accepted me as your daughter, as your sun child. You made me remember what it was like to have a family. I owe you so much, and… and I never got a chance to tell you. I didn't get a chance to tell you how much I loved you."

She felt a hand on her back, and even without turning around she knew who it was. Leaning into the touch, she let Sylvanas help her stand again, accepting a soft kiss to her lips.

"You want to go home?"

Faith smiled a little, "You are my home."

Sylvanas absorbed that, putting a hand on Faith's face. "Okay," she said gently. "Come on. I know you probably don't feel up to a giant feast with everyone in Thunder Bluff, but we don't have to stay there long."

They got to the tauren city in time to hear Baine saying a few words about the deceased, sitting at the head of an enormous table that had been laden with roast tallstriders and wild boars, dozens of loaves of bread, and pitchers of cream, honey, and ale.

"I know that it has not been easy to hear that your loved ones will never come home. But they all walk among your ancestors. You will feel them in the wind, and in the warmth of An'she's rays. They will never truly leave you, so long as you remember them. They will walk by your side and watch over you." He picked up a mug, "To the fallen."

"To the fallen," repeated the tauren.

There was a moment of silence, after which everyone took their seats and began to eat. Sylvanas made her way to Baine.

"Warchief," he said, standing. "Will you join us?"

"No, thank you," she said. "Food and drink are lost on us. Besides, I have to go to Silvermoon and Tirisfal Glades to honor the fallen there as well."

"Of course. Thank you for coming. I will be in Undercity in a couple of days, or will you come to Orgrimmar?"

"I'll send word."

He nodded and walked to Faith, wrapping her in a hug, "Ah, Faith. Your tauren father was a good friend of mine. I will miss him dearly."

"He always spoke very highly of you, High Chieftain," she told him. "I hope that my brother Hamu will serve you well, should you choose to take him on as advisor."

"I will have to see whether he is interested in such a thing. He'd be following in his father's footsteps."

"I'm sure he would be honored," said Sylvanas.

They took their leave. Faith was looking down as they walked, uncharacteristically not paying much attention to Sylvanas, who gave a rare sigh.

"Would you like me to go back over there and force your brother to talk to you?" she asked, gently tugging on Faith's hair.

"It won't do any good."

"No, it won't. But if you let me kick his ass, I'll feel better."

"He's a tauren, which means that he's physically… a little stronger than you."

"With only one arm? I can take him."

Faith's smile didn't reach her eyes, but it was a start.

"Come here." Sylvanas pulled Faith towards her and wrapped her arms around her neck before bringing their lips together in a sensual kiss. Their tongues touched and Faith moaned softly, pressing herself closer to her. "Ahh, you liked that, didn't you?"

Faith licked her lips, blinking several times as though she were trying to clear her thoughts. "What was that for?"

Sylvanas shrugged, "You looked like you needed it."

"I did. Thank you."

"Anytime. Now, could you make us a portal back to Orgrimmar?"

"Not home?"

"No, we need to get our troops and bring them back to the Eastern Kingdoms." She rubbed Faith's back, "Don't worry, we'll be home soon enough."

"But you won't be able to stay there long, will you?"

"My duties may take me to Orgrimmar a lot more now. I'm not really looking forward to that, to tell you the truth. But I guess it's something we're both going to have to accept."


	47. Chapter 47

Most of them went back to Tirisfal Glades via portal, while several others decided to take the ships home.

They elected to hold just one memorial for the Forsaken and Sin'dorei killed at the Broken Shore. It was held in Silvermoon with very little fanfare: their people were only too used to holding such services, and wanted to get back to their normal lives as quickly as possible.

"We're already preparing for the war against the Burning Legion," said Lor'themar to Sylvanas.

"What are you doing to prepare?"

"I've had mages working around the clock to enchant weapons and armor for our soldiers. We've also got several hundred hawkstriders that are ready for battle. They'll serve their riders well."

"Good. What about dragonhawks?"

"We have two hundred of them ready to go. I know they won't be of much use to your Forsaken or to heavier members of the Horde, but trolls, goblins, and Sin'dorei will be able to ride them."

The thought of a goblin riding a dragonhawk nearly made Sylvanas chuckle. "I'll take whatever you can give us."

Lor'themar nodded, "We also have some siege weapons ready and hundreds of field camp kits that our tailors have been working on."

"Field camp kits?" she asked.

"Oh, that's what we call the bags Faith carries around. You know, the ones with tents and stuff. Each bag will have a small tent, a sleeping bag, a box of crystal dust, and a three-legged stool. All soldiers will have to do is deploy the bag, and magic will take care of the rest."

"And you're going to give one to each soldier?" asked Sylvanas, her eyebrow raised.

Lor'themar nodded. "Faith gave us the idea. I mean, the tents won't be state of the art or anything, but they'll do in a pinch if people find themselves stranded somewhere." He led her towards Farstriders Square, where dozens of identical tents were lined up and being magically stuffed into bags.

"Well, they definitely won't win any beauty contests," she told him. Grey in color, they were made of waterproof fabric instead of the red and violet Sin'dorei silks she was used to seeing. But they were easy to set up, and the fact that they came equipped with a small stool and a sleeping bag was a definite bonus. "What's the crystal dust for?"

"It's basically magic in dust form. We figure it could always be useful for people out there."

"You've done well, Lor'themar, thank you."

"My pleasure. Are you staying in Silvermoon long?"

"No. As soon as I find Faith again, I'll take her back to Undercity and we'll start our own planning, although she's already sent some messages back to Nathanos."

The two of them walked a little further, than stopped when they heard Sylvanas' name coming from a dark corner.

"Look, I'm not saying that she won't be competent as warchief," said someone, a soldier Sylvanas recognized as Caenor Sunfeather. He'd grown since the last time she'd seen him. "But you can't blame us for being terrified of what she's going to do."

"What do you think she's going to do?"

Sylvanas tensed and very nearly revealed herself at the sound of Faith's voice.

"You're not afraid that she's going to turn Azeroth into a graveyard, General?" asked someone else.

"No," said Faith. "I'm not."

"You're the one person in the world she claims to love more than anything. And yet when you died, she didn't hesitate to raise you as one of her Forsaken."

"I can see why you'd be worried about the actions she might take as warchief, Caenor. But she's not going to turn the entire Horde into an army of undead. She's not Arthas, you know."

"Could have fooled me."

"Hey!" Faith's voice was suddenly sharp, as deadly as her spellblade. "Sylvanas Windrunner is your warchief now, and you will respect her as such. She has more combat knowledge than the leaders of the Horde and the Alliance put together. That makes her the perfect choice to lead us in this war against the Burning Legion."

There was some muttering to this, but Faith hissed. "Enough. I appreciate the fact that you're scared. We're all scared. But this is Sylvanas Windrunner we're talking about. Sure, she was raised as a banshee by Arthas, but do not ever forget that she sacrificed her life to ensure the survival of the Sin'dorei."

"I thought she'd died to save you."

Faith didn't answer.

"You really trust her to be a good warchief?"

"I trust Sylvanas with my life."

"But do you trust her with our lives?"

"Yes," said Faith. "I do."

Sylvanas closed her eyes, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. There was absolutely no doubt in Faith's voice. She really trusted Sylvanas implicitly with the fate of the Horde.

"You really trust me that much?" she wondered when the two of them were alone again, having just returned to Lordaeron.

"Of course I trust you."

"But you trust me with the lives of the people of the Horde."

Faith looked at her, eyes widening, "You heard that?"

"I did."

"I'm sorry, honey, that wasn't meant for your ears."

"You don't need to be sorry. I… thank you for trusting me."

"Sylvanas."

She shook her head, leaning against a tombstone, "It's not easy for any of us. I never expected in a million years to become warchief of the Horde. It's never been one of my goals. Being queen of Undercity, yes, I love that. But being responsible for everyone?"

"It's not something you wanted," Faith told her. "I know." She took both her hands in hers, "But you can do it. You know that, right?"

"You believe in me." It wasn't a question.

"With every fiber of my being." She kissed her gently, and Sylvanas parted her legs so that Faith could step closer to her. "But you can't do it alone. Remember to lean on people you trust."

"I don't have any of those other than you."

Faith smacked her lightly, "Yes you do. You trust the other leaders of the Horde, Sylvanas. If you didn't, you'd never go into battle with them."

"You have a point."

"You need to lean on us, the same way you leaned on us to help with Undercity matters. You can't do everything by yourself, not because I don't think you could do it eventually, just because it's not the way it's meant to be done."

"I'm scared, Faith." Leaning forward, she pressed her head against Faith's shoulder, closing her eyes. "I never thought that I would end up in this position…"

She sounded so desperate… Faith held her and rubbed the back of her neck, making soothing sounds. "You know what you told me a short while ago?"

"Which bit?"

Faith cupped Sylvanas' face in her hands, "We'll get through it together. I'll be with you every step of the way, if you want me to be."

Sylvanas' chin trembled in a rare moment of weakness, "Of course I want you to be."

"Then I will be. I love you."

"I love you so much, Faith." Sylvanas stood just enough for their lips to meet, and for a few minutes, nothing else mattered, just the two of them together, in love, with nothing or no one to disturb them.

* * *

They eventually made their way back into the city, hand-in-hand, making sure that everyone could see them.

"I'm going to address everyone in a couple of hours," said Sylvanas to the guards. "Make sure they assemble in the Magic Quarter, it's the largest open area of Undercity."

The guards saluted her and began to spread the word.

"You haven't addressed the full population of Tirisfal Glades in a long time," Faith told her.

"I figure now is a good time to do it. Who knows when I'll be able to do this again." She collapsed onto the bed, crossing her arms over her eyes in a gesture that brought Faith back in time. She hadn't done that since before she'd been killed.

Faith smiled, taking off her robes. The sound of them hitting the floor caused Sylvanas to peek out from under one of her arms. Only wearing her boots, Faith made her way to the bed, enjoying the way Sylvanas put down her arms to fully stare at her. She climbed onto the bed, Straddling her lover's hips.

"Honey… the Legion is invading, and you –."

"Shhh," she said, pressing a finger to Sylvanas' lips. "You're tense. Let me help you with that." She kissed her, then snaked her hand down the queen's body, dipping into her leggings and circling the entrance to her body. Sylvanas groaned into the kiss.

"Oh, Faith…"

"What do you want, Sylvanas?" she asked, licking her jawline. She pressed a finger inside her.

"You. Oh… Titans, yes."

Faith added a second finger, "More?"

"P-please."

"I've been neglecting your body," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Sylvanas, I should have paid more attention to your needs."

"Stop talking nonsense and fuck me, Faith."

"What about the invasion?"

Sylvanas' eyes opened, "Finish this first, then we'll talk about the invasion."

Faith laughed softly, kissing her again and taking her hand away. Sylvanas' hips bucked, and she wrapped her arms and legs around her, vice-like. There was more laughter, "I was just going to undress you," she whispered.

"You don't need to undress me."

"My warchief is greedy," mused Faith, unlacing one of Sylvanas' boots and pulling it slowly off her foot.

"Your warchief is going to lose her mind if you make her wait any longer."

A chuckle, "You shouldn't show your weakness, love. Someone might exploit it." She yanked the leggings down, freeing Sylvanas' right leg. "Mmm, better. Look at all that delicious skin."

Sylvanas' snarl turned into a low cry as Faith's fingers penetrated her again, not one, not two, but three of them this time. Her body opened up to her, and she bit down on her hand to keep from screaming

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Faith knew exactly how to please her, knew her reactions perfectly. And at that moment, she knew that Sylvanas wanted to relinquish all control over her own body.

She came once. Twice. When Faith didn't stop and held her down to lick inside her, Sylvanas nearly shrieked.

"Oh, Faith… n-no, I can't again… ah…"

"Yes you can," said Faith. "You can, and you want to."

Sylvanas climaxed again, her cries echoing off the walls of the chamber. Shaking from head to toe, she waited for Faith to climb back up her body to kiss her.

"Are you okay?"

A nod, "Thank you for that. I had no idea how much I needed you until you were right there."

"Isn't that the story of our life?"

Sylvanas started laughing, "It is, actually." She kissed Faith softly, "Thank you for that. I thoroughly enjoyed it."

"I'm glad you did. Feel free to ask me for it again at any time. I'd be happy to do it again."

"Yeah, I'm sure you would." Another kiss. "Did you need more?"

Faith shook her head, smiling, "That was enough for me, thanks."

"You sure?"

"I wouldn't want to keep you. You're supposed to address the population of Tirisfal Glades in less than an hour."

An odd look passed over Sylvanas' face that Faith would have missed had she not trained herself to read her lover's every expression.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine. For a few moments, I nearly forgot everything that happened over the past few days." She got up and walked to the fireplace, her muscles undulating under her grey skin. Faith got up after her and kissed the back of her shoulder.

"I'm with you," she whispered.

"You are with me," said Sylvanas, reaching around to stroke Faith's thigh, "And I count that as the greatest blessing of my life."

Rendered completely speechless by that statement, Faith just stood there for a while. She wanted to say a million things, but couldn't, not immediately. Sylvanas turned around, and if she was surprised to find a tear drying on her cheek, she didn't say anything, merely wiping it for her and kissing her.

"Could you draw us a bath?"

"Of course."

Forty minutes later, they were both in the Magic Quarter, waiting for people to arrive. Half the city was there already, talking quietly.

Sylvanas would be standing on the platform that was usually reserved for portal training, which overlooked the entire area. They were just behind it now, listening to several advisors who had been all over Azeroth to gage the mood in various places.

"Apparently, Genn Greymane is on the warpath," said Nathanos. "According to our spies, he refused to attend the memorial service for Varian. He blames you directly for his death, My Lady."

"That doesn't surprise me," said Faith in a low voice. "He and Varian were best friends."

Nathanos chuckled, "Oh, we heard more about those…  _rumors_  you had mentioned, General."

"They can't have been lovers," hissed Rotvine. "Are you kidding me? Genn's married."

Nathanos shrugged, "But from what we heard, this is something that Mia Greymane knew about."

Sylvanas held up a hand, "Please stop. I absolutely do not want to hear about Greymane's sexual escapades."

"But it's relevant to know," said Nathanos. "The leader of the worgen is going to take this personally. I mean, think about it. You just start a relationship with your best friend, and suddenly he's killed when the Horde decides to betray the Alliance and flee?"

" _We did not betray the Alliance_!" cried Faith.

"I know you didn't. But Greymane's not going to see it that way. As a matter of fact, neither is Jaina."

"Jaina? What has she got to do with anything?"

Rotvine made a small noise, "She's got a lot to do with it. We heard that Khadgar was open to letting members of the Horde back in Dalaran."

Sylvanas nodded, "Yeah, Vol'jin mentioned that."

"Well, Jaina didn't take kindly to that. She left Stormwind claiming that the Alliance was going to regret the day they trusted us again."

Faith bit her lip, "Oh, this bodes well, really well. We're not going to be able to fight the Legion if we're trying to kill each other. We might as well hand Azeroth to Sargeras right now."

"Fantastic," muttered Sylvanas. "All right, Faith. I'm not sending you to Stormwind, but if you want to write to Anduin, please feel free to do so."

"Consider it done, Warchief," said Faith.

"You really think that things can be explained in a  _letter_?" asked Nathanos.

"It's the best we can do at this point. Should Anduin and I meet in the course of this war, I'll explain myself to him directly if he requires it."

"It doesn't seem like that's enough."

"But you're not seeing the Alliance attempting to contact us either, are you?" Faith asked him.

"No, that's true. But that's only because they don't trust us."

"And we don't trust them," said Faith. "As I said, if we continue like this, the Burning Legion will win."

"What are you suggesting we do exactly?" asked Sylvanas, turning to face her.

"The same thing we did when we fought the Scourge. We rely on organizations like the Argent Crusade, the Cenarion Circle, Earthen Ring, the Guardians of Hyjal… all of them. We've shown time and again that we're capable of working with the Alliance. I don't see why this should be any different."

"It's a good place to start. I'll work that into whatever I'll tell everyone here." She began to climb the steps to the platform, "Faith, I want you with me."

"With you?"

"You're my lover, Faith, I want you next to me for this." She held out her hand, and Faith took it.

Everyone assembled grew completely silent as Sylvanas stepped onto the platform, with Faith standing on her left. The only sound was that of the green sludge flowing through the canals of the city and the flapping of bat wings as they patrolled near the ceiling.

"By now," began Sylvanas, "I'm sure that all of you have heard what happened at the Broken Shore. For those of you who haven't, I'll make it short. We lost more than half the forces we went there with, including Warchief Vol'jin, and High King Varian Wrynn."

She paused and looked at the people in front of her. Some were on boats in the middle of the canal, while others still were on flying carpets, hovering just over the bridges, watching.

"You should also know that I have been chosen as the new warchief of the Horde." There was an outbreak of cheering at this, but Sylvanas immediately put up her hand to silence the Forsaken. "As such, I will probably need to relocate to Orgrimmar, but rest assured, I'll do my best to come here at least once a day to see how you're all doing. I will want permanent portals open between the two. Commander Rotvine, that'll be your responsibility."

Rotvine bowed.

"Now, I want to talk about the invasion. They beat the hell out of us on the Broken Shore. But that doesn't mean we're going to sit here and take it. So I'm going to tell you what I told people during Vol'jin's funeral. I want all of you to pitch in. I don't care whether you make weapons or collect sewer mushrooms. Know that everything that you do for Undercity will help with the war effort. Everything. There is no small job, and I want all of you to know it."

She glanced at Faith, who nodded to her encouragingly.

"Not all of you will be going to the front. As a matter of fact, we don't really know where the front will be, exactly, although it's likely that it'll be on the Broken Isles. Hopefully, we'll be able to contain the invasion to that part of Azeroth without having to fight in multiple areas. With that in mind, I want you to look at who you're in contact with."

Several people looked confused by this, so she elaborated.

"Mortimer Callus, I know that you've worked closely with an order of priests out of the Arathi Highlands."

A man with green hair standing on one of the bridges took a step back, surprised to be addressed directly.

"I wouldn't necessarily condone such an alliance, but it will be beneficial to us. So contact the people there to talk about the Burning Legion's invasion. I expect a full report on this by the end of the week. That goes for all of you who are members of the Argent Crusade, the Knights of the Ebon Blade, and other such organizations."

She held up a hand as people began to talk, surprised by the turn of events.

"I know it's unlike me to tell you to look for outside aid, but we're going to need every advantage we can get against the Burning Legion." She looked at Faith, "There's something else that I need to do before we start the real preparations for this war. Something I need you to do for me, Faith."

"What is it?" she asked.

She got down on one knee. "I need you to marry me."


	48. Chapter 48

_I need you to marry me._

Faith stared at her, positive she'd had an auditory hallucination. "You... what?" She closed her eyes slowly, then opened them again, feeling like her body wanted to gasp for breath.

Sylvanas took her hand, "Faith Sylvera Everstone," she said slowly, haltingly. "Would you do me the honor of being my wife? My princess? My queen?"

Had she looked away from Faith's stunned face, she would have seen that every Forsaken watching them had become very still, most of them looking as shocked as Faith was at that moment. Rotvine was frozen, looking like his greatest wish had come true, and next to him, Nathanos looked conflicted. Just behind them, Garia was the only one who wasn't still. She had gripped Vilak's hand tightly and was shaking, wanting to shout out.

"Why… why are you asking me this now?" Faith's voice sounded broken. Her eyes were wide, glistening with tears.

"I don't want to go through another war without being married to you." She licked her lips, "I should have asked you this years ago. I wanted to, more than anything, but I couldn't. Then all this happened," she gestured around.

"You're serious?"

"More serious than I've ever been about anything." She took a ring from her pocket, the same ring she had bought all those years ago. Silver, with a beautiful moonstone at its center. "My Faith," she said. "I love you so much it hurts. Whenever I had to ride away from you, Prince wouldn't obey me, because he could feel my heart and soul crying out for you." A tear fell from her left eye, instantly turning to dust on her cheek. "I promise to love you and cherish you all the days of my life. In sickness and in health, you and I will be one. My final moment will belong to you, and even in the afterlife, I will continue to love you."

"I love you," whispered Faith.

"Will you marry me?"

"Sylvanas… yes. Of course I'll marry you."

"Yes?" asked Sylvanas, thunderstruck.

"Yes."

As the citizens of Undercity burst into cheers and thunderous applause, Sylvanas slid the engagement ring onto Faith's finger with a hand that wasn't quite steady. A second later, she stood up and wrapped Faith into her arms, kissing her deeply.

"We are doing this immediately, you realize," said Sylvanas when they'd broken apart. "I'm not waiting another instant." She turned her head slightly, "Send for a priest!" she called.

"Oh no you don't!"

Rotvine had joined them on the platform. He tried to pull Faith and Sylvanas apart, but Sylvanas tightened her grip on her.

"Don't you  _ever_  try to take her from me," she snarled at him.

"I'm not trying to… Look, I've waited too long for this moment to see you two muck it up in some half-cocked ceremony."

"What are you talking about?" Faith asked him.

"I'm talking about the fact that I will not just let you just sign a piece of paper and call it a wedding."

"We don't have time for a big ceremony, Carrick," said Sylvanas.

"I'll take care of everything. Just give me twenty-four hours."

"Twenty-four hours?" asked Sylvanas. "Did you not just hear me say that I wasn't waiting another instant?"

"You've waited over a century and a half to marry her. I think you can wait a few more hours."

Faith looked up at Sylvanas, still feeling dazed, "Can you?"

"I doubt it," whispered Sylvanas.

"I'll take care of everything," said Carrick again. "You two go do whatever it is you need to do to prepare for the war. But, um… try to stay apart."

" _Apart_?" cried Sylvanas.

"It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding," he said, shaking his head. "Come on, you'll be okay."

Sylvanas pursed her lips, "Fine. But not twenty-four hours. Twelve hours. If you can't make it happen by then, we're doing it my way."

"All right, all right. Garia, here, you take Faith and… do something, anything. Nathanos, you can take care of Sylvanas."

"I don't… neither of us need anybody to take us anywhere!" exclaimed Sylvanas, already regretting her decision to not do this privately.

"It's all right, Sylvanas," said Faith. "I'll go check on supplies with Garia."

Rotvine shook his head, seemingly changing his mind about Faith attending to war matters. "No you won't. You need to relax."

Faith stepped in front of Rotvine, smiling. "You want me to relax." She waited for him to nod before continuing. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the Burning Legion is invading us. On top of that, Sylvanas freaking  _Windrunner_  has just asked  _me_  to be her wife. How do you want me to relax?!"

Sylvanas burst into laughter, pulling Faith to her and kissing her. "I love you," she said.

Kissing her back, Faith pressed her body against her… fiancée. Sylvanas was her fiancée. "Sylvanas, we're getting married…"

Laughing again, Sylvanas picked her up, twirling her around once. "Yes we are."

"Okay, look, the two of you are going to work on your wedding vows while you're apart," said Rotvine.

" _Wedding vows_?" exclaimed Faith and Sylvanas at the same time.

"You're not going to have us go through the whole rigmarole of a  _real_  wedding, are you?" asked Sylvanas.

Garia took Faith's hand and began to pull her away from Sylvanas, "Come on. This is going to be fun!"

An idea came to Faith, "Do you think I could buy an engagement ring for her?" she asked quietly.

"Yes! Yes! That's a great idea! Let's go to Silvermoon and see what they have!"

* * *

Engaged.

She was engaged to Faith.

They were going to get married.

"I'm really happy I'm not alive right now, Nathanos, or I think I'd be dying."

Nathanos smiled a little. "I'm very happy for you both."

She looked up from the blank piece of parchment in front of her, "No, you're not."

"I am, actually. I mean, I'd prefer it if you had decided to get married to me, but…" he shrugged. "You're happy. I've never seen you look like this." He looked at her, "Why did you not ask her this sooner? In point of fact, why did you keep refusing her? Did you want to be the one to propose to her?"

"I did propose to her. It was in a letter a few years before we died, but I never gave it to her. I don't know, I guess I was scared back then. You remember what my family was like."

He nodded.

"After I died, I didn't think I'd ever be happy again. I certainly didn't make it easy for anybody to like me in any way, shape or form. And yet, Faith returned to me and wormed her way back into my heart."

"But even then you didn't think about marrying her."

Sylvanas shook her head, "She was alive. I honestly didn't want her to marry someone who was dead."

"Okay, but after Faith died –."

"After Faith died and I raised her, I couldn't bring myself to ask her to marry me because I felt guilty about what I'd done and I didn't think I deserved her. But no matter what I did, she stayed with me, and I couldn't leave her."

"Write that in your vows," said Nathanos. "It'll be emotional. I bet Faith will cry."

" _I'm_  probably going to cry."

"That'll definitely be something for people to see, I think."

Sylvanas smiled, picking up a quill and beginning to write. She was going to marry Faith in a few short hours.

She couldn't wait.

* * *

There were so many rings… silver, platinum, titanium, gold, mithril…

"How am I supposed to choose, especially in such a short amount of time?"

"I don't know. How long do you think it took Sylvanas to choose your ring?"

"She got this ring for me almost twenty-five years ago, Garia. I have no idea what she went through when she got it for me, only that it must have been an emotional upheaval." She walked around, looking at various displays until she came to a section of black jewelry.

"Those are interesting," said Garia. "I didn't know gold could be black."

Faith's eyes got very round, " _Belore,_  there it is." The ring that caught her attention was on display atop a soft white pillow. Made of two black gold bands that intricately twisted themselves around a glittering amethyst, it practically breathed Sylvanas' name. "It's perfect."

"I daresay it's something she'll appreciate," said Garia. "Then again, you could give her a grass ring and she'd love it just because it came from you."

Faith smiled, going to the counter to pay for the ring and choosing a little box to put it into, which she slid into her pocket.

With her emotions slightly off-balance, she left the store with Garia, only to run into Halduron Brightwing, who was patrolling the area.

"Faith!" he cried. "You're here!" He hugged her tightly enough that he would have broken her ribs had she still been alive. "I can't believe you're getting  _married_  to  _Sylvanas_ , and I had to hear about it from Rotvine instead of from  _you_!"

"What's Rotvine doing in Silvermoon?" she asked as he put her back down.

"Inviting us to the wedding, I expect." He beamed at her. "You're engaged! To Sylvanas! How does it feel?"

Faith couldn't suppress the smile that came to her face, "Unreal. It hasn't really sunk in yet. She proposed. She always said that we didn't need a piece of paper to tell the world we were together, and all of a sudden…" her voice broke. "All of a sudden, there she was getting down on one knee and proposing to me like she'd been waiting to do this her entire life…"

"She's been wanting to propose to you for a long time, Faith," said Garia softly. "And you know this."

"She refused me three times."

Halduron squeezed her shoulder, "Maybe that was because she wanted to be the one to propose to you and not the other way around."

Faith was looking scared, "What if I'm not a good wife to her?"

"Are you kidding me?" said Garia, her voice rising a couple of octaves, "You'll be a great wife to her!"

"I need to talk to her…"

"And you will. Everything's all right, Faith, you just have to breathe and calm down."

"You want her to  _breathe_?" Garia asked Halduron, her eyebrows raised.

"It's a figure of speech. I can imagine how nervous you are," he said. "But you're going to be just fine. You were made to marry Sylvanas, I think everyone in Quel'Thalas and Tirisfal Glades knows this. Come on, we'll take you home and you can relax a little before the ceremony."

"We need to make preparations for the war," she mumbled.

Halduron suddenly clapped his hands hard in front of Faith's face. She blinked, her eyes focusing on him. "Hey. Are you with me? You looked like you were going into shock or something."

"Sorry. I'm having a hard time believing this is actually happening. It seems like an intensely vivid dream."

_Faith, honey, I can feel your fear from here._

Faith jumped, looking around wildly. "Sylvanas?"

"Whoa, hey! Calm down!" said Halduron, putting both his hands on her shoulders. "She's not here."

"No, I know," said Faith, tapping her head. "I just heard her suddenly, that's all."

"And she sounded all right?"

Faith nodded.

"Then you're fine. Come on, let's go look at dresses."

"Dresses? I'm not wearing a wedding dress."

"Of course you're wearing a wedding dress!" came a voice. Rotvine stepped out of the shadows, carrying a rolled-up piece of parchment and wearing a long hooded cloak that obscured his face. "But you don't get to see it yet, I'll bring it over to you in Undercity once it's done."

"Carrick!" exclaimed Faith. "I'm not going to –."

"Not a word about it."

"May I ask what it is that you're planning exactly?"

"A wedding. I've been waiting for years to do this, and you are not going to derail my plans."

"I hope you're not expecting Sylvanas to wear a dress, because she'll laugh in your face."

"Sylvanas will wear what I tell her to wear if she knows what's good for her."

Faith blinked, chuckling, "I'll let you tell her that then. Make sure to let her know that it was your idea and not mine. Honestly, you remind me of my mother while she was planning Ravenna's wedding to Santoran."

Rotvine waved a hand dismissively. "Halduron can take you shopping for a garter."

"There's a sentence I never thought I would hear in my life," said Faith while Sylvanas burst into laughter in her mind.

"What the fel do I know about garters?" wondered Halduron, his cheeks pink.

"Nothing, which is why it'll take you a while to shop for one." Rotvine lowered his voice, "Keep her busy for a few hours so that she doesn't sneak off home to see Sylvanas."

Faith rolled her eyes, "You do realize that I could just use a teleportation spell and end up directly in Sylvanas' lap, right? It's happened before."

"What do you mean it's happened before?" inquired Halduron. "You've teleported into her lap?"

"Well, I'm not really great at teleporting, I'm better with portals. If I don't focus when I'm performing that kind of spell, I'm likely to end up as close to Sylvanas as possible, even if I'm across the world."

"Even if you want to go somewhere else?" asked Garia.

"Even if I  _intend_  to go somewhere else. With teleportation, you not only have to have the intent, but you need to have the will for it as well."

"And since you would prefer sharing a body with Sylvanas rather than be away from her, the spell doesn't always work?" guessed Garia.

"That's the crux of it, yes."

Halduron took her arm and steered her away from Rotvine. "You owe me," he said to him. "Where in the Sunwell are we going to get a garter?"

Faith chuckled, "I know a place near the Bazaar."

"Been in there before?"

Faith cleared her throat, "Once or twice. They don't only sell garters."

"What else do they…" Halduron's face suddenly turned crimson all the way to the tips of his ears. "Oh."

"The entire first floor is dedicated to garters, veils, and wedding headbands. The basement is dedicated to more… adventurous pursuits, if you'll allow me that turn of phrase."

"You know, I really don't need to hear anything else about it," he said.

"You don't have to come with us, Garia and I can do this alone. As a matter of fact, I can do all of this entirely by myself."

"No way. You need a maid of honor," said Garia.

Faith turned to her, "You're going to wear a dress?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Because maids of honor traditionally wear dresses, even in Forsaken weddings."

"I will not wear a dress. But I'll help you out, get used to it."

They got to the Silvermoon City Bazaar, finding it exceedingly busy, even though it was nearly nine o'clock in the evening.

"I'm surprised everything's still open," said Garia.

"We're getting ready for a major war," replied Halduron. "We don't observe regular opening hours when that happens."

Faith nodded, "You see, Garia, Sin'dorei businesses usually close at six o'clock in the evening, except for restaurants and one catch-all store per district, which is usually open between six in the evening and five a.m. the next day. You'll find that kind of store here in the Bazaar, in Farstrider Square, the Court of the Sun, and even in Murder Row, and they exist in case there's an emergency during the night."

"Exactly. But yesterday, Lor'themar decreed that businesses should stay open all day and all night in order to help people as much as they can in their preparations for the war."

"How does a bakery staying open all day and night help the war effort?"

Faith smiled, "If you're a bowyer and you're making bows all night, having someone going on a run for baked goods is a great motivator. People even reduce prices so that things are more affordable to the masses." She stopped at a stall and bought a couple of black leather chokers from a vendor. "Sylvanas put it best, everything one does from this point on will benefit the war effort. The person sweeping the streets makes sure that wagons can roll by without any obstacle."

"Exactly," said Halduron. "And the baker that stays open all night will help feed the people who are working around the clock to get things ready. It's a nice circle. You'll probably see the same thing in Orgrimmar."

"I don't remember it ever being this way."

"Sylvanas is a big fan of this system," said Halduron. "And there's no denying the fact that it works. By making everyone feel like they're a part of something, it motivates them more. Garrosh made it feel like only the ones who worked directly for him were worthy."

Faith led them down one of the streets parallel to the Bazaar, which wasn't quite as busy as the main thoroughfare, but still had a fair amount of people walking around. She stopped in her tracks as they came close to a store with a striped white awning, blinking as she saw Sylvanas leaning against the wall of the shop, looking as though she were posing for a portrait.

"Now how did we not see that coming?" muttered Garia, beginning to laugh.

"If anybody's going to pick a garter for my fiancée to wear to our wedding, it's going to be me," said Sylvanas slowly.

"What did you do, teleport here?" asked Halduron.

"I asked for a portal, and the mages of Undercity were kind enough to make one for me."

"But you're not supposed to see each other…" began Garia.

"Deal with us seeing each other." Sylvanas held out her hand and Faith took it, lacing their fingers together. "Better."

They went inside the store, which was decorated in white and red tones, with shelves that held garters, crystal headbands, and a collection of veils inside a glass bookcase.

"Should we tell them that we've looked at most of these already?" Faith asked Sylvanas quietly as they reached a shelf in the middle of the room.

Sylvanas chuckled, "They don't need to know that. Oh, I like this." Using her free hand, she pulled one of the garters from the display. "If you don't buy it for the wedding, I will."

It was a garter made of white lace and threaded with black silk, with two little crystal skulls holding bows together on either side of it. It was soft to the touch, delicate.

"It's pretty," said Faith, taking it from her. "I can buy a couple of them."

"Good girl." Sylvanas looked at her, "I guess I'm not allowed to kiss you until the wedding."

"Yes you are," whispered Faith. "Please."

"Don't make us rip you two apart," said Halduron from the doorway.

"I'll be the one ripping you apart if you try to take Faith from me," Sylvanas told him, sending a glare his way.

The two of them walked to the counter to pay for the garters, accepting the shopkeeper's congratulations. "It's all over Silvermoon," he said. "Everyone's really happy for you."

"Thank you," said Faith. "I guess it's been a long time coming."

"You can say that again."

Sylvanas chuckled, "I'm stubborn, okay? I had my reasons for not marrying her sooner."

"Yeah, you were scared out of your mind," said Halduron, chuckling as they left the store.

Sylvanas shook her head, gripping Faith's hand tighter, not wanting to let her go in the slightest. She closed her eyes, trying to force herself to let her go. Faith didn't seem to want to let go either, judging by the squeeze of her fingers and the way she was pressing herself against her.

"Come on, you two," said Garia. "It's not like you're never going to see each other again."

"What are you talking about, Garia?" asked Sylvanas.

"Faith's got this pinched look on her face that she gets when the two of you are about to separate. You know, the one where she looks like she's about to cry."

Sylvanas knew. Dropping Faith's hand, she put an arm around her, turning her until they were facing each other, "Hey. It's okay. We're getting married tomorrow."

"We're getting married," whispered Faith. She looked into Sylvanas' eyes, smiling, "You and I."

"Finally," said Sylvanas, leaning closer.

"Don't kiss!" cried Halduron. "Save it for the wedding!"

Sylvanas dropped her head onto Faith's shoulder and gave a groan. "Whose idea was it to forbid two people from kissing the night before their own wedding?"

"It'll be worth it when you kiss for the first time as a married couple."

"I'm sure it will be, but for now, it's torture," mumbled Sylvanas. "Okay, Faith, I'm going to let you go."

"Before you do that," said Faith, "I have something for you."

She straightened up, "Do you?"

A slow nod. "You know all those times I proposed to you?"

"The ones I refused you? Yes."

Faith grinned, "Yeah, those. You'll have to explain to me why you did that, by the way. Anyway, I didn't have a ring for you then, but…" her voice trailed off as she pulled the box from her pocket and opened it, revealing the ring she'd bought inside. "I thought this would do."

Sylvanas stared at it, mouth open slightly, "Oh, Faith… baby, it's beautiful."

"I know you're already wearing my vine ring on your wedding finger, but you can maybe wear this one on your other hand?" She sounded shy, almost uncertain.

"I would love to. Would you put it on me?"

Faith did so, taking Sylvanas' hand in hers and sliding the ring onto her finger. "That looks good. It complements your skin perfectly."

Unable to help herself, Sylvanas kissed her deeply, wrapping both her arms around Faith's body and lifting her off the ground. Faith kissed her back her own arms wound around her neck and her heart seemingly attempting to quiver in her chest.

"Did I not just tell them to save it for the wedding?" asked Halduron faintly.

"Hush," said Garia, her voice low. "Let them love each other. They deserve it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Evermore should now be considered a series, not a trilogy! That's right, there's going to be another installment of this series! I'll be ending this particular story soon, because I realized I can't fit Legion and BFA in it, not unless we want this one to be 120 chapters long, which, honestly, is monstrous.
> 
> Have a good day!
> 
> Lunarelle


	49. Chapter 49

Sylvanas got back to Undercity to find that Rotvine was waiting for her in her office, tapping his finger on the desk.

"You're incorrigible," he said, sounding stern. "You went to see Faith, didn't you?"

She smiled, "Yeah."

"And you kissed her!"

Another smile, "Yeah."

"Incorrigible," he repeated.

The smile faded from Sylvanas' face, "Do you honestly think that Faith and I aren't going to feel as strongly about our marriage just because she and I kissed a few hours before the wedding?"

"No, of course not. But it's fun to play along."

"Maybe for you. Now, is there a reason you're waiting for me?"

"Yes." He pointed to a corner of the room, where a garment bag was hanging. "I'd like you to try this on and see if it fits you."

"Fits… you're not expecting me to wear a dress, are you?"

"Seeing you in a wedding dress would definitely be the high point of my life. But I know you'd rather flay your own skin open than to wear something like that. Go on, open it."

A little apprehensively, Sylvanas walked to the garment bag and opened it.

She blinked.

"You're kidding, right?" she asked.

She was looking at her old general's uniform, the white ceremonial one that had epaulettes and a lace jabot along with a matching floor-length cape. One that she had only worn when absolutely forced.

"You know I had a black version of this, right?"

Rotvine chuckled, "Yes. But you wore that one to funerals with a hooded cloak, not with the cape. Come on, you know Faith will love you in this."

She would, but… "What makes you think I can wear  _white_? I'm not a virgin, and I'm certainly not pure in any sense of the word."

"Could you please stop being difficult and try this on?"

Sylvanas smirked, "Aren't you regretting having volunteered your services to organize this?" she asked him. "All right, go, I'll put this on and we'll see how it works. But I still prefer the black one."

"Duly noted." He left the office, and Sylvanas found herself alone, trying on a uniform she hadn't worn since well before she'd died.

It still fit her perfectly, the white material feeling like silky velvet on her skin. With her hair down, it made her look younger – somehow – and more formidable than usual.

"It's a good thing Faith is already dead," said Rotvine once he'd walked back into the office. "Because I think she'd drop dead of a coronary episode if she'd seen you like that while her heart still beat in her chest."

"Faith didn't have many occasions to see me in this particular uniform. The black one, yes, I wore it at Lirath's funeral. And yes… I think she liked it, although she never said anything about it."

"Would she have been likely to tell you that you looked hot at a funeral, especially your brother's?"

"No. But I remember the look on her face. It was cycling between intense grief and lust."

"That's a heck of a combination."

"Tell me about it." She'd felt on fire that day, wanting to cry but needing to appear strong, and wanting Faith so badly she'd barely been able to breathe. "That day was agony in more ways than one."

"Faith is yours now, you know."

"Not quite," she replied. "But soon enough."

"I have to say, I think I'd be terrified if you were to suddenly lay claim to me like that." He touched her hair, "All right, there's a way to make this softer. It'll involve some magic, but we can do it if you'd like."

"What are the chances of you going away if I order you to leave?"

"While I'm planning your wedding to Faith? Slim to none."

"Okay. Just this one, you win.  _Just this once_ , and just because I want to make this perfect for Faith."

"You're marrying her. I don't think it could be any more perfect for her, and you know it. It couldn't be any more perfect for you either, admit it: you're happy."

She was. More than happy, she was practically  _giddy_. "I feel like I did on the days I knew I was going to see Faith when we were alive. She wouldn't be expecting me at all, even though she waited for me at her window almost every day, and I'd be so excited I would shake. It used to make Prince go mad."

"That's right, Prince was your horse before he was Faith's. He knew you liked her?"

"Liked her. Yeah, he knew. I had the hardest time getting him to leave Everstone Village. One day, he dragged me halfway back to her house before I was able to turn him around to go where I needed him to." She smiled, losing herself in the memories. "But when I was going to see her… oh, everything was brighter."

Rotvine smiled, weaving his hands through Sylvanas' hair and performing a spell so that it began to shine like a pale golden sun. "And you never kissed her?"

"No. But Titans we came close on several occasions. One Winter's Veil, we nearly did, except that Taegan lobbed a magical snowball at us and caught us just as I was about to touch my lips to hers. There was also a moment during Hallow's End that I was positive that…" Sylvanas licked her lips. "She and I only kissed once."

"Was it everything you'd hoped it would be?"

"It was our last moment together before I died. There was a lot of despair in that kiss. A lot of love too, as much as I could muster for her. We both knew I wasn't going to make it, but she was holding out hope for me to survive."

"I thought you didn't remember your life," said Rotvine quietly.

"I remember every single moment I ever spent with Faith, whether alive or dead."

He murmured another spell, which had the effect of making Sylvanas' hair almost look like it had when she had been alive, although he didn't know that. He conjured a mirror and handed it to her, "What do you think?"

Sylvanas blinked, examining her reflection, "How did… wow."

"Good?"

"It's great, thank you, Carrick, I'm impressed."

He patted her shoulder, "I'm glad you like it. I've been practicing on some of the Forsaken."

"You've been practicing hair spells on Forsaken?!" asked Sylvanas, the look on her face incredulous. "Did you get bored or something?"

"Faith will be the first one to tell you that it's fun to experiment with little spells, because it'll help you gain control over the larger ones eventually."

"Faith loves to be able to use magic for something other than battle, you know that as well as I do."

"Of course she does. But you can't deny the fact that it works. Because she experiments a lot, her spells are much stronger."

She couldn't argue with him there. "So, I suppose you're going to want me to stay like this until it's time for the wedding?"

"The spell on your hair will hold until this time tomorrow, and I wouldn't want you to spill ink on your uniform, so you can go ahead and remove it. I'll come in to do your makeup later if you'd like."

"I haven't worn makeup in years, Carrick, except for the gloss Faith gets for me to keep my lips from completely cracking open." She gestured to her face, "But I certainly don't need stuff like eyeliner."

Rotvine chuckled, "All right, all right, I'll let you figure that out on your own. Faith thinks you're beautiful regardless."

"Sunwell knows why, considering what I look like now."

"You  _know_  you look damn good for a corpse. I've even heard Lor'themar say so. You may look like a dead version of yourself, but you remain one of the most attractive people in Azeroth, and it's no use denying it."

Sylvanas glanced at him, "You don't need to reassure me about my appearance, you know. I'm no longer a Sin'dorei."

"No, but you're still vain. You take pride in your appearance."

"That's because I know there's value to looking the way I do. People have a tendency to underestimate me in battle because of how I look, even now. It was a great advantage when I was alive."

"I suppose it's a great advantage now as well." He made for the door, "Will you promise me not to go looking for Faith again?"

"No."

A blink, "Stubborn. I'll come find you in a couple of hours. Try to relax or something before then."

"I'll get right on  _relaxing_ ," she said. "In case you didn't know, dead muscles don't relax. Not fully, anyway."

"You know what I mean." Still muttering about Sylvanas being stubborn, he left again.

* * *

Faith was still in Silvermoon. She wanted to go home, but Lor'themar had asked her to examine some of the camping kits they were going to be sending with officers during the war against the Burning Legion, and she had to admit that it was a great distraction.

"The tents for the officers are much more elaborate," she told him. "And while I appreciate that, it makes the officers a target. All the enemy would have to do would be to see what the largest tent is in order to figure out who to kill."

"You have a good point. But the Legion doesn't discriminate."

"Oh yes they do. I've seen eredar targeting very specific people. It wouldn't be very difficult to send an assassin into an officer's tent. Nobody would see it happen and the soldiers would be left in complete disarray."

"So you think we should pack the same tents for the officers than for regular soldiers."

She nodded, "I do, yes. I'm not saying you shouldn't give them more, such as extra food rations and blankets, but anything that's visible should be kept the exact same."

"It's just that we can't pack a lot into these tents."

Faith went into one of them, humming to herself. It was true that the tent was on the small side, barely large enough to accommodate a tauren lying down. "You could pack a carpet or some kind of mat. It would provide insulation against the cold or damp, and shouldn't be too difficult to add to the bag. And perhaps an extra tarp and additional poles, which will serve a group well if they have to set up a larger camp."

Liadrin, who was with them, gave a nod, "That's not a bad idea."

"And it's one you could have come up with it on your own, Liadrin. You and I spoke about this not five months ago while we were on Draenor."

The paladin looked down. "Guilty," she said.

"Good try. You managed to distract me for about half an hour, but I'll be going back to Undercity now. Are… are you guys coming?"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world," Lor'themar told her, hugging her and kissing her cheek. "Congratulations, by the way. It's about time."

"We'd lost hope that it was ever going to happen," Liadrin told her.

Faith smiled, "Imagine how I feel about it."

"You're happy."

"I am. I can't even quantify how much. It's like… I feel like I've strayed into a dream and I don't want to wake up for fear that reality won't be as good."

Lor'themar snorted, "I don't think that anybody would qualify your reality as  _good_."

"Sylvanas and I are together, we're in love, and we're getting married. It doesn't get much better than that."

"I guess that's all you need," said Liadrin. "Hey. Rotvine's back."

Faith turned to see Rotvine walking over to them. "Is it time?" she asked. "Can I go home?"

"Yes, but you're not getting married yet."

"Carrick –."

"I still have four hours to make this happen, and everything's nearly ready. I just need to do your hair and makeup, and have you try on your dress. Do you have your wedding vows?"

"I've always known what I was going to say to Sylvanas on our wedding day. Trust me when I say I don't need to write anything down."

"Now that's cute," said Liadrin to Lor'themar.

"Sticky sweet," he replied.

Rotvine looked at them, "You'll be there, right?"

"With bells and whistles on. Don't worry, my friend. Did you get all the guests you wanted to?"

He shook his head, "No. I don't think Vereesa will show up. Neither will…" his voice trailed off. "I'm sorry, Faith."

"They're grieving," she said quietly. "I wouldn't expect them to show up. It's okay, Carrick, thank you for trying."

He rubbed her back slowly, "So. Shall we start making our way back?"

"Sure. I'll make the portal." She did exactly that, conjuring a swirling vortex to the portal room of Undercity. A minute later, they were there, and Faith immediately felt herself calming down, knowing that Sylvanas was near. "Is she in her office?"

"She is, and you'll see her later, don't worry."

"But –."

"Later," he repeated, taking her hand and leading her down the corridor that led to her and Sylvanas' chambers. "I need you to try on the dress I had made for you."

"You had a full wedding gown made in a few hours?"

"You're the one who taught me that magic could be used for all sorts of things. That includes altering a specific wedding gown until it's just right." He opened the door, "Tell me what you think."

It was unlike anything Faith had seen before. It was ethereal, magical, the type of dress she had always seen herself wearing at her own wedding.

Delicate and made of the finest Silvermoon mageweave cloth, it floated in midair, allowing Faith to examine it from every angle.

It was a long strapless gown, with a semi-sweetheart neckline that she felt was perfect. The material flowed from a sparkling white bodice into folds that were the softest she had ever touched. Sheer, they had subtle strands of crystal etched onto them, making everything shimmer in the dim light of the room.

"It looks like it's been woven out of snow…" she whispered, her chest feeling oddly constricted. "Carrick, how did you do this?"

"I guessed," he admitted. "And I may have heard you talking about your perfect dress once or twice. Do you like it?"

Faith couldn't speak for a moment. "It's b-beautiful," she said after a while. Her chin trembled, and before she'd been able to stop them, tears had begun to flow down her cheeks as emotions overwhelmed her. I'm getting married," she whispered. "To Sylvanas."

"You are." Rotvine gave her back a gentle pat, "Those are happy tears, right?"

"It's my wedding day…"

"Yes it is, but you don't sound happy, Faith. You just sound… lost." Worried, not remembering the last time he'd seen Faith look like that, he stepped into the corridor, finding a guard, "Get Sylvanas.  _Right now_." He walked back into the room, seeing that Faith had sunk to the floor

"I'm sorry, Carrick," she whispered. "Could I please be alone?"

"I don't think you should be."

"Please? Just for a little while."

"Okay," he said. "I'll be right outside."

He left her alone, but it wasn't for long. The moment he'd closed the door behind himself, Sylvanas arrived. She'd changed back into her usual outfit, although she hadn't put on a cloak, so her hair streamed behind her as she walked.

"What did you do?" she asked him.

"Why are you assuming that I did anything?"

Sylvanas glared at him before opening the door to the chamber.

She found Faith kneeling in the middle of the room, her face in her hands.

"Sweetheart," she said quietly, walking to her and kneeling next to her. "Talk to me."

Faith reached out for her, "Sylvanas…"

She kissed her temple gently, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"What's the matter? Do you… do you not want to do this?"

Faith looked at her, "Of course I want to marry you. Right now. It's just…"

"Just what?"

Faith leaned into her, "Sylvanas, it's our wedding day. Our families should… they're not here."

Sylvanas wrapped her arms around Faith tightly. "They're here, love. Right with us. Our parents will be standing right beside us as we say our vows. I know they didn't approve when we were alive – or they wouldn't have had we actually gone through with anything then. But I like to think that they know exactly how much we love each other." She kissed her lips softly, "And you know Taegan will be there."

"I thought he was roaming the seashore?"

"He was. I asked Lydon to go get him."

"You did?"

Sylvanas nodded. "Ultimately, what matters is that we're going to be married. We'll be each other's family. Each other's destiny."

Rendered speechless by those words, Faith curled up on Sylvanas' lap, tucking her head under her chin. Sylvanas held her, allowing herself to feel the moment their souls connected. She saw the wedding dress, and her eyes widened slightly.

"That's a thing of beauty," she whispered after a while. "I can't wait to see you in it later."

"Can't we just get married here, like this?" asked Faith, her voice low. "I don't want to move from your embrace."

"I would be more than happy if you and I were to get married right here, right now."

"Don't you dare!" came Rotvine's voice from behind the door. "I've already gotten everything ready for you!"

Sylvanas chuckled softly, wiping the tears from Faith's cheeks and kissing her, "Shall we do this?"

A slow nod, "Okay. I… can I touch your hair?"

"Honey, you can touch any part of me you want."

Faith's fingers immediately reached up to touch the magical strands of hair that hung over Sylvanas' shoulders. "Oh… it's soft," she whispered.

"You can thank Rotvine for that. He'll probably do the same for your hair if you ask him to."

"I love you."

Sylvanas rubbed her nose against Faith's, "I love you."

The door to the chamber opened, "Look. I know you love each other and that you don't want to let each other go even for a minute, it's why you're getting married. But you have to actually go through the motions of getting married."

"Is that your way of telling us to go get ready?" Faith asked him.

"Yes. The sun will be rising in about an hour, so I'd like to start then. The guests have already started to arrive. Faith, would you like me to help you do your hair?"

She looked at him and shook her head, murmuring a spell. As she did so, her hair began to soften and shine a beautiful shade of silver-white.

Sylvanas stared at her, "Faith!"

"It's only going to last about eight hours," she said quietly.

"Maybe, but… wow. You need to do this every day, honey, especially if it's that easy for you."

Faith smiled, "If it's something you want."

"You're always performing spells on us so that we can look better. You should take care of yourself as well." Sylvanas stood, taking Faith with her, "Okay. I'll see you later?"

A nod. "Yes. I'll be yours soon."

"And I'll be yours."

They pressed their foreheads together, closing their eyes. Watching them, Rotvine felt just one thing: the immense power of their love for each other and their will to never be separated again.


	50. Chapter 50

It was time.

Was she ready?

She'd been born for this moment. The moment she would get to marry Sylvanas. Finally.

Finally.

But still, she wondered. Would she be a good wife? Would she be able to support Sylvanas unconditionally, no matter what she did within Azeroth? She was warchief now, the foremost authority on all Horde matters. What if she did something that Faith didn't agree with?

 _She's always doing stuff you don't agree with, and you always work through it_ , she said to herself.  _Stop looking for excuses… everything's going to be fine._

She smiled a little and put on the dress slowly, closing her eyes as she felt its silken folds caressing her body. An old memory came to her as she did so, one of her and her siblings playing Princes and Princesses, pretending to be locked in a dungeon while waiting to be rescued, or, on a memorable occasion, actually playing the rescuers, which had ended with them in hysterics. She vividly remembered wearing one of her mother's old gowns on that day, a soft green dress that had brought out the amber of her eyes.

"I wish you all could be with me now," she said to the empty room, using magic to button the back of the dress.

A gentle wail reached her ears, and she smiled.

Taegan. He had shown up just as Sylvanas had left the room, and she'd been stunned to notice that she could actually see the shape of him.

He was more transparent than any ghost she had ever seen, and wasn't able to form words, but the priests and shaman who had worked on him had been able to alter his appearance so that he looked less like a wraith and more like one of the spirits that haunted some of the ruins in the Ghostlands.

"I know, Taegan," she whispered. "You're here."

It could have been anyone, really, because while she could see his shape, she couldn't make out his features. But she felt a connection to him, the same one she'd felt when she'd first seen his form in Windrunner Village.

"I'm so sorry, brother…" Her voice trembled, but she managed not to cry. Taegan glided over to her, gently bumping her forehead with his. She felt nothing but a whisper of cold and humid air when he did this, but the mannerism was familiar enough to make her smile. "I love you too."

Moving away from him, she walked to the closet, where a long bridal cape was hanging. It was white, like her dress, but spangled with silver sparkles in the shape of little stars. The material was almost completely transparent, and when she fastened it around her neck and shoulders, she felt a surge of emotion so strong she felt as though she'd been caught in a monstrous wave.

There was a soft knock at her door.

"Come in," she said in a voice that wasn't quite steady.

The door opened, and Rotvine took one step forward before stopping in his tracks. He stared at her.

"By the gods, Faith… look at you."

She turned around, facing him, "I haven't worn white in decades," she whispered, looking at the floor.

"You look magnificent. Oh, sweetheart…" He blinked, "I can't cry, but every dead cell in my body is telling me that this would be my react reaction if my tear ducts hadn't rotted away."

Faith burst into giggles, "Carrick, you sure know how to talk to a woman. Do you think Sylvanas…"

"I think Sylvanas is going to be stunned speechless when she sees you. I mean it, you know. She already loves the way you look. This… this would kill her, if she weren't already dead."

"That's definitely what I want to do, kill Sylvanas before she and I have a chance to get married." She smiled gently. "I don't know if I can do this…"

"Of course you can do this. Just think, in a few minutes, you and Sylvanas will be married. You'll finally be together in every sense of the word. She will be your wife, and you will be hers."

"Her wife…"

"Exactly." He linked his arm with hers and began to lead her out of the room, "Come on, she's already waiting for you."

Faith nodded, licking her lips once, "Okay…"

* * *

The courtyard that surrounded the ruins of Lordaeron was virtually unrecognizable. Little shimmering off-white lights were everywhere, swirling around tombstones that had been decorated in white bridal mist, those fragrant hanging flowers that had been so popular in Quel'Thalas once upon a time. The flowers also climbed along the walls, held there by sparkling magic that Sylvanas recognized as Rotvine's. They were also on the ground, forming a path that led to a corner of the courtyard where she could hear voices.

"Are you ready?"

She started. "What?" Why was her voice so squeaky?

Lor'themar smiled at her, "Oh, you're nervous!"

"No, I'm not. There's nothing to be nervous about. I'm only about to marry Faith Everstone, a woman I've loved my entire life, so why should I be nervous?" She said this very fast, her eyes widening with each sentence.

Bursting into laughter, Lor'themar hugged her. You're going to be just fine, you'll see. You're going to love her and cherish her and she will love and cherish you, and you'll both be happy. You'll be a family."

A family.

Faith would be her family.

Her chest began to get curiously warm, as though a small sun had settled there, bringing her peace and harmony.

In just a few moments, she and Faith would be married. And all would be right with the world.

"I wonder if things will feel different between Faith and I once we're married," she said to Lor'themar, taking his arm. "What do you think?"

"I honestly wouldn't know. But you and Faith love each other so much that you can't stand to be apart anymore. You love each other so much that you're willing to spend eternity together. I don't think I like anyone that much…"

"You're picky," said Sylvanas. "You always were."

"I'm not  _picky_."

"Lor'themar. You're pickier than I used to be before Faith came along."

The regent-lord of Quel'Thalas stared at her, pursing his lips, "We're not all as lucky as you have been with Faith, okay?"

"Lucky. It took us nearly a century to finally kiss, and that was just before I died and was raised as a banshee."

"That's because you were both stubborn fools, and you know it."

Sylvanas pulled at the collar of her uniform, "Maybe."

A smile, "Hey, I think Liadrin's ready," he said, turning his head to see her walking towards them.

"Faith's coming," she said.

Sylvanas' skin began to hum with energy. Faith was on her way.

* * *

Music began to play, an old wedding march that had originated in Quel'Thalas, winding itself through the very air and around everyone assembled in the courtyard. There were people from every Horde race there, and even some unexpected guests: Alexstrasza and Chromie, who were sitting in the back, along with Taran Zhu, and, surprisingly, the August Celestial Niuzao, who had come in the form of a Sin'dorei with golden eyes and glowing black and silver hair.

All of them turned when Sylvanas began to walk down the aisle on Lor'themar's arm. She looked beautiful, and only those who knew her very well detected just how nervous she was.

"She's terrifyingly beautiful dressed like that," commented Chromie to Alexstrasza, keeping her voice low. "Faith won't be able to take it…"

Alexstrasza smiled, "I wonder how Sylvanas will take seeing Faith dressed as a bride."

Chromie laughed softly, "We're about to find out."

Sylvanas reached the end of the aisle, stopping under a tree that had been magically brought from Eversong Woods, its golden boughs seeming to shine even in the dim light of Lordaeron. Looking up at it, she realized that the music was actually coming from the tree. She'd witnessed this a handful of times back home, and remembered having been awed by this simple piece of magic. Tears welled in her eyes, and she blinked once, allowing them to roll down her cheeks and turn to dust there.

People began to murmur, and Sylvanas turned around.

There she was. Her Faith.

"Oh, by the Light…" she whispered.

To call her pretty would have been to speak a lie. She was breathtaking, this creature who was walking towards her, accompanied by a very emotional Rotvine and the shade of her brother.

The dress suited her perfectly, accentuating every curve of her body. It shimmered in the light, and created the perfect contrast to the black and red bouquet she was holding.

 _Making you look like the princess that you are… oh, my Faith_.

She felt her knees getting weak, and thought suddenly that she was going to faint.

Liadrin reached out a hand, grabbing her arm to steady her, "It's okay," she whispered. "Everything's fine."

Everything was fine. Faith was right there, walking towards her. They were going to be married. She was going to be hers, this elusive creature she had loved for so long. Finally, they would be joined as one, after all this time. She caught Faith's eye, and nearly burst into laughter.

Faith looked stunned, staring at her as though she'd never seen her before. She was petrified. But beneath the fear was a love so intense it could have burned down worlds.

She steeled herself as Faith came closer, closer.

"Finally," she whispered, taking a step forward.

With a hand that wasn't quite steady, Rotvine handed Faith to her. Faith kissed his cheek, and after half a second's hesitation, Sylvanas did the same.

"Thank you," she told him in a low voice. "For everything."

Rotvine tried to speak, but found that he couldn't. Nodding once, he went to join Lor'themar to the side, taking Faith's bouquet with him, then watching as the two women looked at each other, the world falling away around them.

There was nobody else. Only them. As they took each other's hands, feeling an irresistible pull, their eyes locked. Everyone assembled felt their bond, something that not even death had tarnished.

It was really happening…

"Today," began Liadrin, her voice soothing as the tree's music softly dissipated, "we are here to honor the love Faith and Sylvanas share for one another. It is a love that knows no bounds. A love that has remained strong, even in death, binding them to each other in ways many of us cannot even conceive of."

She took Faith and Sylvanas' hands within hers.

"Their bond is like water, sustaining life around them." Water flowed through Liadrin's fingers and over the two brides' joined hands. "It is like fire," she said as tongues of flame danced above their fingers, "burning bright and warm. It is like the earth, rich and dense, solid as mountains. And it is like the air, flowing freely over the world, capable of being a pleasant breeze or a powerful hurricane." As her voice lowered, an air current carried away the rocks and sand that had begun to spin around their wrists, sweeping them over the crowd.

Lor'themar wiped a tear from his face, swearing then and forever after that a grain of sand had gotten into his eye.

"If there is someone here who feels that these two women should not be joined in marriage, I invite you to speak now, or hold your peace until the end of time."

Nobody said a word, everyone waiting with bated breath. Faith's hand twitched, and Sylvanas gripped it tighter, lacing their fingers together.

"I love you," whispered Faith.

Sylvanas smiled softly, "I love you." She turned her gaze back to Liadrin, who was blinking back her own tears, "Oh, don't start, Liadrin," she hissed. "We're barely holding each other together as it is!"

Liadrin laughed, and the rest of the audience chuckled. Clearing her throat, she spread her arms, her hands beginning to glow with holy Light. "Love has many different meanings for everyone. It is the love of a mother for a child, or the love of a brother for a sister. But it is also the love two beings share for one another, one so strong that it causes them to decide to spend the rest of their lives together."

She touched Faith and Sylvanas' fingers, "Everyone here has witnessed your acts of love. Without wanting to dwell on the bad, people remember Sylvanas' sacrifice for Faith when Quel'Thalas fell. And they have seen time and again the way Faith has thrown herself in the path of danger to keep Sylvanas safe. It brings me great joy to finally unite them in matrimony." She looked out into the audience. "Is there anybody here who wishes to speak of their love?"

"I will," said Lor'themar, stepping forward. He cleared his throat, willing his voice not to shake. "I have known Sylvanas since we were nothing but lowly rangers just starting at the Farstrider Academy. She had lovers here and there, as is only natural, but I remember the day – and her sisters would back me up if they were here – but I remember the day Sylvanas found out that Faith liked her."

Faith pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. Next to her, Sylvanas closed her eyes, chuckling.

"She was stunned. You sent her cookies, Faith, is that right?"

Faith nodded, the memory bursting into her mind, warm and bright.

"Cookies. That was all it took. Sylvanas was never the same after that. I remember the way she tried telling herself that it was impossible, that Faith was too young, that they were both women, that Faith's brothers actually were her rangers…" his voice trailed off for a minute. "I remember the day she came back one day from Everstone Village, looking stricken. She was holding a small painting of Faith in her hands, and would look at it every few minutes when she thought she was alone."

"Were you spying on me or something?" asked Sylvanas in a whisper.

Lor'themar ignored her. "We all watched as Sylvanas fell in love with Faith." His voice shook just once as he went on, "And the rest is history. When Arthas came to Quel'Thalas, I saw Faith's world shatter. I was with her those first few days after Sylvanas died. I think all of you here remember what it was like for her. She cried every tear in her body, and then some."

Several people in the audience nodded, and Sylvanas squeezed Faith's hand tighter still.

"I can only imagine what it's like for someone to love another the way Faith and Sylvanas do. I have seen them fight, and I've seen them resist each other. I've seen them cry together, and today, finally, I will get to see them joined. For evermore."

For evermore.

He nodded and went to take his place by Rotvine again, but not before Sylvanas hugged him briefly. She hadn't hugged him in decades, and if he found it strange to hug her now, he didn't mention it.

"Thank you, Regent-Lord," said Liadrin. "We have heard one testimony of the love Faith and Sylvanas have for each other, and I'm sure that if I were to ask more of you to share your stories of them, the tales would be the same. You would mention how Sylvanas rescued Faith from the Scourge on more than one occasion. How Faith went to Icecrown Citadel when she found out that Sylvanas had decided to go there on her own to confront Arthas. You would share stories of the way Sylvanas acts when Faith isn't around – how she's much more irritable to work with."

"Am not…" muttered Sylvanas as the crowd chuckled.

"Yes you are, I've seen it myself. But the same goes for Faith. When the two of you aren't together, she's more on edge, and she's always,  _always_  thinking of you. The length of time you're apart doesn't matter. The second the two of you are out of each other's sights, she misses you."

"And I miss her…"

Liadrin smiled. "Now… I think the two of you have something you would like to say to each other. Sylvanas?"

Sylvanas found that she wanted to take a deep breath, something she hadn't wanted to do since before she'd died. But she felt scared enough that her body tried to fall back on a long-forgotten response. She turned to Faith, taking her other hand as well.

"My Faith, my love. You and I have been through our fair share of trauma. I didn't think we would make it here. I always felt that something would keep us apart somehow. First, it was our families – they seemed accepting, but we both knew that they never would have allowed us to truly be together."

She wiped a tear rolling down Faith's cheek before going on.

"Then it was the Scourge who tore us apart in the most unimaginable way possible. Arthas killed me, and turned me into this. And yet you returned to me, and you loved me so much that I had no choice than to love you again the way I'd loved you before my death. More so. Even after your own death and rebirth, you continued to love me. And I love you so much, honey. I love you… so much."

She cleared her throat, wanting to look around, as she could swear she heard more than one person crying, but there was no way she could tear her eyes away from Faith.

"I cannot imagine my life without you, Faith. We belong together in every way. You are mine. And I am yours. Forever."

It was done. She had said her piece. Her body trembled, but she felt as though her heart had filled with light and warmth. With peace.

There was silence. Sylvanas glanced at Liadrin, her eyebrow raised, and Liadrin took a deep breath, composing herself. "Faith?" she asked.

Faith gave a nod, rubbing Sylvanas' knuckles with her thumbs. "Sylvanas, you have been the love of my life since before I can remember. I wanted to be with you so badly when we were alive. It was physically painful for me to be near you without being with you, you remember."

Sylvanas gave a wide smile, "I remember," she whispered.

"When the Scourge attacked us, I made a promise to myself that I would never leave you again. That promise lasted exactly five days. You were taken from me, and things were never the same. There were days I didn't think I'd survive the despair I felt at knowing you were dead. But you made it possible. You were there for me. I loved you… and you tried not to love me back, didn't you?"

She had tried so hard not to love her again… what a fool she had been. She nodded.

"I love you. I don't know how else to say it, Sylvanas. I love you. And I'm always going to love you. You are my heart, you are my soul. You are my light in the storm, my calm in the night. And nothing will ever change that."

"Oh, Faith…"

Faith smiled, putting a hand on Sylvanas' cheek and caressing it softly before turning back to Liadrin, who swallowed the lump in her throat. She looked at the audience, giving people a moment to compose themselves. A moment later, she raised her hand, which began to glow with golden light.

"Faith and Sylvanas have declared their love for each other, and the Light blesses them both." The glow diminished, and she turned to Rotvine, who stepped forward with a box in his hands. She took it from him and opened it, revealing two rings inside, one slightly smaller than the other, made of silver gold with a black inscription on it in flowing Thalassian script. The inscription read, simply: "Two hearts as one".

Sylvanas picked up the smaller ring, repeating after Liadrin. "With this ring, I, Sylvanas Windrunner, promise to cherish you, Faith Everstone, all the days of my life. I will hold you, and love you, in health, in sickness, through joys and sorrows, all the days of our lives." She slid the ring onto Faith's wedding finger, feeling her eyes widening slightly as she did so.

 _By the Titans_ , she thought, shocked.  _I just put a wedding ring onto Faith's finger…_

It took Faith a few seconds to snap herself out of the state of shock she was in. Her hand shook as she took the remaining ring from the box. "With this ring, I, Faith Everstone, promise to cherish you, Sylvanas Windrunner, all the days of my life. I will hold you, and love you, in health, in sickness, through joys and sorrows, all the days of our lives." She slid the ring onto Sylvanas' finger and looked at her, mouth parted, as though she couldn't believe what had just happened.

Sylvanas smiled.

Faith smiled.

"With these rings," said Liadrin, "Faith and Sylvanas have declared their commitment to each other, sealing their bond in the eyes of all the forces of Azeroth, in the company of people who love them." She looked at Faith and Sylvanas, positively beaming. "By the power given to me in the name of the Holy Light, I now pronounce you married, two hearts as one."

**The End**

* * *

**Author's Note:**

This seems like the perfect place to end this part of the series.

I wasn't planning on it – Evermore (the novel) was going to span until Legion or Battle For Azeroth, but it was going to be way too long, as I mentioned in a previous chapter. So I'm adding a fourth installment to this series, which is called  **Roses & Thorns**, which you will be able to start reading… immediately, because I'm going to upload both of these on the same day!

As I'm writing this (on October 25th, 2018), I'm grinning from ear to ear.

Allow me to fangirl for a second: OH MY GOD, THEY'RE FINALLY MARRIED! IT'S ABOUT TIME! I've been waiting to write this wedding for the past two years, ever since I did the scenario for the Broken Shore. And no, I didn't skip ahead and write this scene two years ago. So, I know all of you have been waiting forever for this wedding to happen, but trust me – so have I!

There are quite a few people I would like to thank here, but the list is going to be too long to list you all by name, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm brief.

To you, my darling, my love. We met through this series. You've encouraged me in ways I didn't realize I needed, and built me up. You crashed through my defenses and have – to use Sylvanas' words – wormed your way under my skin. I have no words to express how much you mean to me.

To everyone who has stuck by Faith and Sylvanas all this time (has it been more than three years, or am I hallucinating this?), thank you. Thank you for your patience, your comments, your ideas, your excitement, and your discussions. Thank you for reminding me that it's okay to get stuck and that I should take my time.

To those of you who have taken the time to create fan art and music (MUSIC!) for Evermore – thank you. That doesn't seem like an adequate thing to say – I'm still floored that my little piece of fanfiction has inspired you to create works of art for Faith and Sylvanas. Wow. Thank you.

I hope that Roses & Thorns will be a good experience for all of you, And, remember, if you'd like to catch me on Facebook, you can – just search for Lunarelle Everstone, and you'll find me!

With that said, I wish you all a happy reading experience. And… OH MY GOD, THEY'RE MARRIED!

Love,  
Lunarelle


End file.
